Treasure Island

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Treasure Island

BLACKIE & SON LIMTTFO

50 Old Bailey, LONDON
17 Stanhope Street, GLASGOW

BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LIMITED
Warwick House, Fort Street, BOMBAY

BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LIMITED
iu8 Bay Street. TORONTO

ON BOARD THE "HISPANIOLA'

Pas'! 158

Treasure Island

BY

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

With Frontispiece in Colour by
Sydney Seymour Lucas

BLACKIE & SON LIMITED

LONDON AND GLASGOW

Published in Blackie's ENGLISH AUTHORS FOR SCHOOL

READING by consent of Robert Louis Stevenson's

representatives

Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son t Ltd., Glasgow

Contents

PART I. THE OLD BUCCANEER

CHAP. p

I. THE OLD SEA-DOG AT THE "ADMIRAL BENBOW" 9

II. BLCK DOG APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS 16

III. THE BLACK SPOT - 22

IV. THE SEA-CHEST 29

V. THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN 35

VI. THE CAPTAIN'S PAPERS 41

PART IL THE SEA-COOK

VII. I GO TO BRISTOL 48

VIII. AT THE SIGN OF THE " SPY-GLASS " 54

IX. POWDER AND ARMS 59

X. THE VOYAGE 65

XL WHAT J HEARD IN THE APPLE BARREL - 71

XII. COUNCIL OF WAR 78

PART III. MY SHORE ADVENTURE

XIII. HOW I BEGAN MY SHORE ADVENTURE 84

XIV. THE FIRST BLOW 89

XV. THE MAN OF THE ISLAND 95

PART IV.THE STOCKADE

XVI. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: How

THE SHIP WAS ABANDONED - 103

XVII. NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: THE

JOLLY-BOAT'S LAST TRIP 108

6

6

CHAP
XVIII.

qONTKNTS
9

NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR* END OF
THE FIRST DAYS FIGIIIING -

Pagre

113

XIX.
XX.

NARRATIVE RESUMED BY JIM HAWKINS: THE
GARRISON IN THE STOCKADE ....

118

I 2zL

XXI.

THE ATTACK

1^4
I 3

PART V. MY SEA ADVENTURE

XXII.

HOW I BEGAN MY SEA ADVENTURE

137

XXIII.

THE EBB-TIDE RUNS - - - -

143

XXIV.

THE CRI LSI-, OF THE CORACLE . . - .

1 4 8

XXV.

I STRIKE THE JOLLY ROGER

J 54

XXVI.

ISRAEL HANDS *

1 60

XXVII.

" PIECES OF EIGHT"

1 68

PART VI. CAPTAIN SILVER

XXVIII.

IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP

176

XXIX.

THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN

184

XXX.

ON PAROLE

K)I

XXXI.

THE TREASURE HUNT FLINT'S POINTER

1 9 8

XXXII.

THE TREASURE HUNT THE VOICE AMONG THE
TREES

206

XXXIII.

THE FALL OF A CHIEFTAIN - -

212

XXXIV.

AND LAST -

2IQ

Illustrations

Facing
Page

ON BOARD THE "HISPANIOLA" - - Frontispiece

Sydney Seymour Lucas

MAP OF THE ISLAND 8

2. Jl

ScJk of) t- Hf

TREASURE ISLAND

Part I The Old Buccaneer

CHAPTER I

THE OLD SEA-DOG AT THE " ADMIRAL BENBOW "

Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these
gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole
particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning
to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the
island, and that only because there is still treasure not
yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17 ,
and go back to the time when my father kept the " Admiral
Benbow " inn, and the brown old seaman, with the sabre
cut, first took up his lodging under our roof.

I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came
plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind
him in a hand-barrow; a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown
man; his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulders of his
soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with
black, broken nails; and the sabre cut across one cheek,
a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the
cove and whistling to himself as he did so, and then

(D419) 9 A 2

io TREASURE ISLAND

breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often
afterwards:

" Fifteen men on the dead man's chest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been
tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped
on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike that he
carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly
for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him,
he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the
taste, and still looking about him at the cliffs and up at
our signboard.

" This is a handy cove," says he, at length; " and a
pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?"

My father told him no very little company, the more
was the pity.

" Well, then/' said he, " this is the berth for me.
Here you, matey," he cried to the man who trundled
the barrow; " bring up alongside and help up my chest.
I'll stay here a bit," he continued. " Fm a plain man;
rum and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head
up there for to watch ships off. What you mought call
me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you're
at there;" and he threw down three or four gold pieces
on the threshold. " You can tell me when I've worked
through that," says he, looking as fierce as a commander.

And, indeed, bad as his clothes were, and coarsely as
he spoke, he had none of the appearance of a man who
sailed before the mast; but seemed like a mate or skipper,
accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came
with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the
morning before at the " Royal George "; that he had
inquired what inns there were along the coast, and
hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as

THE OLD BUCCANEER u

lonely, had rhosen it from the others for his place of
residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest.

He was a very silent man by custom. All day he hung
round the cove, or upon the cliffs, with a brass telescope;
all evening he sat in a corner of the parlour next the fire,
and drank rum and water very strong. Mostly he would
not speak when Spoken to; only look up sudden and
fierce, and blow through his nose like a fog-horn; and
we and the people who came about our house soon
learned to let him be. Every day, when he came back
from his stroll, he would ask if any seafaring men had
gone by along the road. At first we thought it was the
want of company of his own kind that made him ask this
question; but at last we began to see he was desirous to
avoid them. When a seaman put up at the " Admiral
Benbow " (as now and then some did, making by the
coast road for Bristol), he would look in at him through
the curtained door before he entered the parlour; and
he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any
such was present. For me, at least, there was no secret
about the matter; for I was, in a way, a sharer in his
alarms. He had taken me aside one day, and promised
me a silver fpurpenny on the first of every month if I
would only keep my " weather-eye open for a seafaring
man with one leg ", and let him know the moment he
appeared. Often enough, when the first of the month
came round, and I applied to him for my wage, he would
only blow through his nose at me, and stare me down;
but before the week was out he was sure to think better
of it, bring me my fourpenny piece, and repeat his orders
to look out for " the seafaring man with one leg ".

How that personage haunted my dreams I need scarcely
tell you. On stormy nights, when the wind shook the
four corners of the house, and the surf roared along the
cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand

12 TREASURE ISLAND

forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions. Now
the leg would be cut off at the knee, now at the hip;
now he was a monstrous kind of a creature who had
never had but the one leg, and that in the middle of
his body. To see him leap and run and pursue me over
hedge and ditch was the worst of nightmares. And alto-
gether I paid pretty dear for my monthly fourpenny
piece, in the shape of these abominable fancies.

But though I was so terrified by the idea of the sea-
faring man with one leg, I was far less afraid of the
captain himself than anybody else who knew him. There
were nights when he took a deal more rum and water
than his head would carry; and then he would some-
times sit and sing his wicked old wild sea-songs, minding
nobody; but sometimes he would call for glasses round,
and force all the trembling company to listen to his
stories or bear a chorus to his singing. Often I have
heard the house shaking with " Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle
of rum "; all the neighbours joining in for dear life,
with the fear of death upon them, and each singing
louder than the other, to avoid remark. For in these
fits he was the most overriding companion ever known;
he would slap his hand on the table, for silence all round;
he would fly up in a passion of anger at a question, or
sometimes because none was put, and so he judged the
company was not following his story. Nor would he
allow anyone to leave the inn till he had drunk himself
sleepy and reeled off to bed.

His stories were what frightened people worst of all.
Dreadful stories they were; about hanging, and walking
the plank, and storms at sea, and the Dry Tortugas, and
wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main. By his own
account he must have lived his life among some of the
wickedest men that God ever allowed upon the sea;
and the language in which he told these stories shocked

THE OLD BUCCANEER 13

our plain country' people almost as much as the crimes
that he described. My father was always saying the inn
would be ruined, for people would soon cease coming
there to be tyrannized over and put down, and sent
shivering to their beds; but I really believe his presence
did us good. People were frightened at the time, but on
looking back the}f rather liked it; it was a fine excitement
in a quiet country life; and there was even a party of the
younger men who pretended to admire him, calling him
a " true sea-dog ", and a " real old salt ", and such like
names, and saying there was the sort of man that made
England terrible at sea.

In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us; for he
Jkept on staying week after week, and at last month after
month, so that all the money had been long exhausted,
and still my father never plucked up the heart to insist
on having more. If ever he mentioned it, the captain
blew through his nose so loudly that you might say he
roared, and stared my poor father out of the room. I
have seen him wringing his hands after such a rebuff,
and I am sure the annoyance and the terror he lived
in must have greatly hastened his early and unhappy
death.

All the time he lived with us the captain made no
change whatever in his dress but to buy some stockings
from a hawker. One of the cocks of his hat having fallen
down, he let it hang from that day forth, though it was
a great annoyance when it blew. I remember the appear-
ance of his coat, which he patched himself upstairs in
his room, and which, before the end, was nothing but
patches. He never wrote or received a letter, and he
never spoke with any but the neighbours, and with these,
for the most part, only when drunk on rum. The great
sea-chest none of us had ever seen open.

He was onlv once crossed, and that was towards the

i 4 TREASURE ISLAND

end, when my poor father was far gone in a decline thai
took him off. Dr. Livesey came late one afternoon tc
see the patient, took a bit of dinner from my mother,
and went into the parlour to smoke a pipe until his
horse should come down from the hamlet, for we had
no stabling at the old " Benbow ". I followed him in,
and I remember observing the contras! the neat, bright
doctor, with his powder as white as snow, and his bright
black eyes and pleasant manners, made with the coltish
country folk, and above all, with that filthy, heavy,
bleared scarecrow of a pirate of ours, sitting far gone in
rum, with his arms on the table. Suddenly he the
captain, that is began to pipe up his eternal song:

" Fifteen men on the dead man's chest

Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

At first I had supposed " the dead man's chest " to be
that identical big box of his upstairs in the front room,
and the thought had been mingled in my nightmares
with that of the one-legged seafaring man. But by this
time we had all long ceased to pay any particular notice
to the song; it was new, that night, to nobody but Dr.
Livesey, and on him I observed it did not produce an
agreeable effect, for he looked up for a moment quite
angrily before he went on with his talk to old Taylor,
the gardener, on a new cure for the rheumatics. In the
meantime, the captain gradually brightened up at his own
music, and at last flapped his hand upon the table before
him in a way we all knew to mean silence. The voices
stopped at once, all but Dr. Livesey's; he went on as
before, speaking clear and kind, and drawing briskly at his
pipe between every word or two. The captain glared at
him for a while, flapped his hand again, glared still harder,

THE OLD BUCCANEER 15

and at last })roke oTit with a villainous, low oath: " Silence,
there, between decks!"

" Were you addressing me, sir?" says the doctor; and
when the ruffian had told him, with another oath, that
this was so, " I have only one thing to say to you, sir,"
Replies the doctor, " that if you keep on drinking rum,
the world will sofn be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!"

The old fellow's fury was awful. He sprang to his feet,
drew and opened a sailor's clasp-knife, and, balancing it
open on* the palm of his hand, threatened to pin the
doctor to the wall.

The doctor never so much as moved. He spoke to
him, as before, over his shoulder, and in the same tone
of voice; rather high, so that all the room might hear,
but perfectly calm and steady:

" If you do not put that knife this instant in your
pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall hang at
the next assizes."

Then followed a battle of looks between them; but
the captain soon knuckled under, put up his weapon,
and resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog.

" And now, sir," continued the doctor, " since I now
know there's such a fellow in my district, you may count
I'll have an eye upon you day and night. I'm not a doctor
only; I'm a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of com-
plaint against you, if it's only for a piece of incivility like
to-night's, I'll take effectual means to have you hunted
down and routed out of this. Let that suffice."

Soon after Dr. Livesey's horse came to the door, and
he rode away; but the captain held his peace that evening,
and for many evenings to come.

16 TREASliJRE ISLAND

CHAPTER II
BLACK DOG APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS

It was not very long after this that there occurred the
first of the mysterious events that rid us at last of the
captain, though not, as you will see, f)f his affairs. It
was a bitter cold winter, with long, hard frosts and heavy
gales; and it was plain from the first that my poor father
was little likely to see the spring. He sank daily, and my
mother and I had all the inn upon our hands, and were
kept busy enough, without paying much regard to our
unpleasant guest

It was one January morning, very early a pinching,
frosty morning the cove all grey with hoar-frost, the
ripple lapping softly on the stones, the sun still low and
only touching the hill-tops and shining far to seaward.
The captain had risen earlier than usual, and set out
down the beach, his cutlass swinging under the broad
skirts of the old blue coat, his brass telescope under his
arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. I remember his
breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off,
and the last sound I heard of him, as he turned the big
rock, was a snort of indignation, as though his mind was
still running upon Dr. Livesey.

Well, mother was upstairs with father, and I was laying
the breakfast- table against the captain's return, when the
parlour door opened and a man stepped in on whom I
had never set my eyes before. He was a pale, tallowy
creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand; and,
though he wore a cutlass, he did not look much like a
fighter. I had always my eye open for seafaring men,
with one leg or two, and I remember this one puzzled
me. He was not sailorly, and yet he had a smack of the
sea about him too.

THE OLD BUCCANEER 17

I asked Jiim wfiat was for his service, and he said he
would take rum; but as I was going out of the room
to fetch it he sat down upon a table and motioned me
to draw near. I paused where I was with my napkin in
my hand.
" Come here, sonny," says he. " Come nearer here."

I took a step fearer.

" Is this here table for my mate Bill?" he asked, with
a kind of leer.

I told* him I did not know his mate Bill; and this
was for a person who stayed in our house, whom we
called the captain.

" Well," said he, " my mate Bill would be called the
captain, as like as not. He has a cut on one cheek, and
a mighty pleasant way with him, particularly in drink,
has my mate Bill. We'll put it, for argument like, thai
your captain has a cut on one cheek and we'll put it,
if you like, that that cheek's the right one. Ah, well!
I told you. Now, is my mate Bill in this here house?"

I told him he was out walking.

" Which way, sonny? Which way is he gone?"

And when I had pointed out the rock, and told him
how the captain was likely to return, and how soon, and
answered a few other questions " Ah," said he, " this'll
be as good as drink to my mate Bill."

The expression of his face as he said these words was
not at all pleasant, and I had my own reasons for thinking
that the stranger was mistaken, even supposing he meant
what he said. But it was no affair of mine, I thought;
and, besides, it was difficult to know what to do. The
stranger kept hanging about just outside the inn door,
peering round the corner like a cat waking for a mouse.
Once I stepped out myself into the road, but he immedi-
ately called me back, and, as I did not obey quick enough
for his fancy, a most horrible change came over his

i8 TREASURE ISLAND

tallowy face, and he ordered me in, 'with aji oath that
made me jump. As soon as I was back again he returned
to his former manner, half fawning, half sneering, patted
me on the shoulder, told me I was a good boy, and he
had taken quite a fancy to me. " I have a son of my own/'
said he, " as like you as two blocks, and he's all the
pride of my 'art. But the great thing for^boys is discipline,
sonny discipline. Now, if you had sailed along of Bill,
you wouldn't have stood there to be spoke to twice
not you. That was never Bill's way, nor the way of
sich as sailed with him. And here, sure enough, is my
mate Bill, with a spy-glass under his arm, bless his old
'art, to be sure. You and me'll just go back into the
parlour, sonny, and get behind the door, and we'll give
Bill a little surprise bless his 'art, I say again."

So saying, the stranger backed along with me into the
parlour, and put me behind him in the corner, so that
we were both hidden by the open door. I was very
uneasy and alarmed, as you may fancy, and it rather
added to my fears to observe that the stranger was cer-
tainly frightened himself. He cleared the hilt of his
cutlass and loosened the blade in the sheath; and all
the time we were waiting there he kept swallowing as
if he felt what we used to call a lump in the throat.

At last in strode the captain, slammed the door behind
him, without looking to the right or left, and marched
straight across the room to where his breakfast awaited him.

" Bill," said the stranger, in a voice that I thought he
had tried to make bold and big.

The captain spun round on his heel and fronted us;
all the brown had gone out of his face, and even his nose
was blue; he had the look of a man who sees a ghost,
or the Evil One, or something worse, if anything can be;
and, upon my word, I felt sorry to see him, all in a
moment, turn so old and sick.

THE OLD BUCCANEER 19

" Come, Bill, you know me; you know an old ship-
mate, Bill, surely," said the stranger.

The captain gave a sort of gasp.
Black Dog!" said he.

" And who else?" returned the other, getting more at
Ivs ease. " Black Dog as ever was, come for to see his
old shipmate Billy, at the ' Admiral Benbow ' inn. Ah,
Bill, Bill, we have seen a sight of times, us two, since I
lost them^ two talons," holding up his mutilated hand.

" Now, look here," said the captain; " you've run me
down; here I am; well, then, speak up: what is it?"

" That's you, Bill," returned Black Dog, " you're in
the right of it, Billy. I'll have a glass of rum from this
dear child here, as I've took such a liking to; and we'll
sit down, if you please, and talk square, like old ship-
mates."

When I returned with the rum, they were already
seated on either side of the captain's breakfast-table
Black Dog next to the door, and sitting sideways, so as
to have one eye on his old shipmate, and one, as I thought,
on his retreat.

He bade me go, and leave the door wide open. " None
of your keyholes for me, sonny," he said; and I left them
together, and retired into the bar.

For a long time, though I certainly did my best to
listen, I could hear nothing but a low gabbling; but at
last the voices began to grow higher, and I could pick
up a word or two, mostly oaths, from the captain.

" No, no, no, no; and an end of it!" he cried once.
And again, " If it comes to swinging, swing all, say I."

Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion
of oaths and other noises the chair and table went over
in a lump, a clash of steel followed, and then a cry of
pain, and the next instant I saw Black Dog in full flight,
and the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses,

20 TREASURE ISLAND

and the former streaming blood from the left shoulder,
Just at the door the captain aimed at the fugitive one
last tremendous cut, which would certainly have split
him to the chine had it not been intercepted by our big
signboard of Admiral Benbow. You may see the notch
on the lower side of the frame to this day.

That blow was the last of the battk. Once out upon
the road, Black Dog, in spite of his wound, showed a
wonderful clean pair of heels, and disappeared over the
edge of the hill in half a minute. The captain, for his part,
stood staring at the signboard like a bewildered man.
Then he passed his hand over his eyes several* times, and
at last turned back into the house.

" Jim," says he, " rum;" and as he spoke he reeled 3
little, and caught himself with one hand against the wall.

" Are you hurt?" cried I.

" Rum," he repeated. " I must get away from here.
Rum! rum!"

I ran to fetch it; but I was quite unsteadied by all
that had fallen out, and I broke one glass and fouled the
tap, and while I was still getting in my own way, I heard
a loud fall in the parlour, and, running in, beheld the
captain lying full length upon the floor. At the same
instant my mother, alarmed by the cries and fighting,
came running downstairs to help me. Between us we
raised his head. He was breathing very loud and hard;
but his eyes were closed, and his face a horrible colour.

" Dear, deary me," cried my mother, " what a dis-
grace upon the house! And your poor father sick!"

In the meantime, we had no idea what to do to help
the captain, nor any other thought but that he had got
his death-hurt in the scuffle with the stranger. I got the
rum, to be sure, and tried to put it down his throat;
but his teeth were tightly shut, and his jaws as strong
as iron. It was a happy relief for us when the door opened

THii ULU BUCCANEER 21

and Dr. Livesey Jame in, on his visit to my father.

" Oh, doctor," we cried, " what shall we do? Where
is he wounded?"

" Wounded? A fiddle-stick's end!" said the doctor.
" No more wounded than you or I. The man has had
a -stroke, as I warned him. Now, Mrs. Hawkins, just you
run upstairs to yofir husband, and tell him, if possible,
nothing about it. For my part, I must do my best to
save this fellow's trebly worthless life; and Jim here
will get me a basin."

When I got back with the basin, the doctor had already
ripped up * the captain's sleeve, and exposed his great
sinewy arm. It was tattooed in several places. " Here's
luck ", " A fair wind ", and " Billy Bones his fancy "
were very neatly and clearly executed on the forearm;
and up near the shoulder there was a sketch of a gallows
and a man hanging from it done, as I thought, with
great spirit.

" Prophetic," said the doctor, touching this picture
with his finger. " And now, Master Billy Bones, if that
be your name, we'll have a look at the colour of your
blood. Jim," he said, " are you afraid of blood?"

" No, sir," said I.

" Well, then," said he, " you hold the basin;" and
with that he took his lancet and opened a vein.

A great deal of blood was taken before the captain
opened his eyes and looked mistily about him. First he
recognized the doctor with an unmistakable frown; then
his glance fell upon me, and he looked relieved. But
suddenly his colour changed, and he tried to raise him-
self, crying:

" Where's Black Dog?"

(f There is no Black Dog here," said the doctor, ** except
what you have on your own back. You have been drinking
rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I told you; and

22 TREASURE ISLAND

I have just, very much against my oWn will, dragged you
head-foremost out of the grave. Now, Mr. Bones "

" That's not my name," he interrupted.

" Much I care/' returned the doctor. " It's the name
of a buccaneer of my acquaintance; and I call you by
it for the sake of shortness, and what I have to say to you
is this: one glass of rum won't kill yeu, but if you take
one you'll take another and another, and I stake my wig
if you don't break off short, you'll die do you under-
stand that? die, and go to your own place, like the man
in the Bible. Come, now, make an effort. I'll help you
to your bed for once." *

Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist
him upstairs, and laid him on his bed, where his heac 4
fell back on the pillow, as if he were almost fainting.

" Now, mind you," said the doctor, " I clear my con-
science the name of rum for you is death."

And with that he went off to see my father, taking me
with him by the arm.

" This is nothing," he said, as soon as he had closed
the door. " I have drawn blood enough to keep him quiet
a while; he should lie for a week where he is that is
the best thing for him and you; but another stroke would
settle him."

CHAPTER III

THE BLACK SPOT

About noon I stopped at the captain's door with some
cooling drinks and medicines. He was lying very much
as we had left him, only a little higher, and he seemed
both weak and excited.

" Jim," he said, " you're the only one here that's worth

THE OLD BUCCANEER 23

anything; and yotf know I've been always good to you.
Never a month but I've given you a silver fourpenny for
yourself. And now you see, mate, I'm pretty low, and
deserted by all; and, Jim, you'll bring me one noggin
of rum, now, won't you, matey?"
, " The doctor " I began.

But he broke iu cursing the doctor, in a feeble voice v
but heartily. " Doctors is all swabs," he said; " and that
doctor there, why, what do he know about seafaring men?
I been in places hot as pitch, and mates dropping round
with Yellow Jack, and the blessed land a-heaving like the
sea with earthquakes what do the doctor know of lands
like that? and I lived on rum, I tell you. It's been meat
ind drink, and man and wife, to me; and if I'm not to
have my rum now I'm a poor old hulk on a lee shore,
my blood '11 be on you, Jim, and that Doctor swab;" and
he ran on again for a while with curses. " Look, Jim, how
my fingers fidges," he continued, in the pleading tone.
" I can't keep 'em still, not I. I haven't had a drop this
blessed day. That doctor's a fool, I tell you. If I don't
have a drain o' rum, Jim, I'll have the horrors; I seen
some on 'em already. I seen old Flint in the corner there,
behind you; ^as plain as print, I seen him; and if I get
the horrors, I'm a man that has lived rough, and I'll
raise Cain. Your doctor hisself said one glass wouldn't
hurt me. I'll give you a golden guinea for a noggin,
Jim."

He was growing more and more excited, and this
alarmed me for my father, who was very low that day,
and needed quiet; besides, I was reassured by the doctor's
words, now quoted to me, and rather offended by the
offer of a bribe.

" I want none of your money," said I, " but what
you owe my father. I'll get you one glass and no
more,"

24 TREASURE ISLAND

When I brought it to him, he seized it greedily, and
drank it out.

" Ay, ay," said he, " that's some better, sure enough,
And now, matey, did that doctor say how long I was to
lie here in this old berth?"

" A week at least," said I.

" Thunder!" he cried. " A week! , I can't do that:
they'd have the black spot on me by then. The lubbers
is going about to get the wind of me this blessed moment;
lubbers as couldn't keep what they got, and want to nail
what is another's. Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I
want to know? But I'm a saving soul. I never wasted
good money of mine; nor lost it neither; and I'll trick
'em again. I'm not afraid on 'em. I'll shake out another
reef, matey, and daddle 'em again."

As he was thus speaking, he had risen from bed with
great difficulty, holding to my shoulder with a grip that
almost made me cry out, and moving his legs like so
much dead weight. His words, spirited as they were
in meaning, contrasted sadly with the weakness of the
voice in which they were uttered. He paused when he
had got into a sitting position on the edge.

" That doctor's done me," he murmured. " My ears
is singing. Lay me back."

Before I could do much to help him he had fallen
back again to his former place, where he lay for a while
silent.

" Jim," he said at length, " you saw that seafaring
man to-day?"

" Black Dog?" I asked.

"Ah! Black Dog," says he. "He's a bad 'un; but
there's worse that put him on. Now, if I can't get away
nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind you, it's
my old sea-chest they're after; you get on a horse you
can, can't you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to

THE OLD BUCCANEER 25

well, yes, 1 will! to that eternal doctor swab, and
tell him to pipe all hands magistrates and sich and
he'll lay 'em aboard at the ' Admiral Benbow ' all old
Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left. I was
first mate, I was old Flint's first mate, and I'm the on'y
pne as knows the place. He gave it me to Savannah, when
he lay a-dying, Like as if I was to now, you see. But
you won't peach unless they get the black spot on me,
or unless you see that Black Dog again, or a seafaring man
with one leg, Jim him above all."

" But what is the black spot, captain?" I asked.

" Thatfe a summons, mate. I'll tell you if they get
that. But you keep your weather-eye open, Jim, and I'll
share with you equals, upon my honour."

He wandered a little longer, his voice growing weaker;
but soon after I had given him his medicine, which he
took like a child, with the remark, " If ever a seaman
wanted drugs, it's me," he fell at last into a heavy, swoon-
like sleep, in which I left him. What I should have
done had all gone well I do not know. Probably I should
have told the whole story to the doctor; for I was in
mortal fear lest the captain should repent of his confes-
sions and make an end of me. But as things fell out, my
poor father cfied quite suddenly that evening, which put
all other matters on one side. Our natural distress, the
visits of the neighbours, the arranging of the funeral, and
all the work of the inn to be carried on in the meanwhile,
kept me so busy that I had scarcely time to think of the
captain, far less to be afraid of him.

He got downstairs next morning, to be sure, and had
his meals as usual, though he ate little, and had more,
I am afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he helped
himself out of the bar, scowling and blowing through his
nose, and no one dared to cross him. On the night before
the funeral he was as drunk as ever; and it was shocking,

26 TREASURE ISLAND

in that house of mourning, to hear hilh singing away at
his ugly old sea-song; but, weak as he was, we were all in
the fear of death for him, and the doctor was suddenly
taken up with a case many miles away, and was never
near the house after my father's death. I have said the
captain was weak; and indeed he seemed rather to grow
weaker than regain his strength. He <ilambered up and
down stairs, and went from the parlour to the bar and
back again, and sometimes put his nose out of doors to
smell the sea, holding on to the walls as he went for
support, and breathing hard and fast like a man on a
steep mountain. He never particularly addressed me,
and it is my belief he had as good as forgotten his con-
fidences; but his temper was more flighty, and, allowing
for his bodily weakness, more violent than ever. He had
an alarming way now when he was drunk of drawing
his cutlass and laying it bare before him on the table.
But, with all that, he minded people less, and seemed
shut up in his own thoughts and rather wandering. Once,
for instance, to our extreme wonder, he piped up to a
different air, a kind of country love-song, that he must
have learned in his youth before he had begun to follow
the sea.

So things passed until, the day after the funeral, and
about three o'clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon,
I was standing at the door for a moment, full of sad
thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing
slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he
tapped before him with a stick, and wore a great green
shade over his eyes and nose; and he was hunched, as
if with age or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered
sea-cloak with a hood, that made him appear positively
deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking
figure. He stopped a little from the inn, and, raising his
voice in an odd sing-song, addressed the air in front of him:

THE OLD BUCCANEER 27

" Will any Kina rnena mrorm a blind man, who
has lost the precious sight of his eyes in the gracious
defence of his native country, England, and God bless
King George! where or in what part of this country
he may now be?"

" You are at the ' Admiral Benbow ', Black Hill Cove,
my good man," bkid i.

" I hear a voice," said he, " a young voice. Will you
give me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me
in?"

I held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken,
eyeless creature gripped it in a moment like a vice. I
was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw; but
tfhe blind man pulled me close up to him with a single
action of his arm.

" Now, boy," he said, " take me in to the captain."

" Sir," said I, " upon my word I dare not."

" Oh," he sneered, " that's it! Take me in straight, or
I'll break your arm."

And he gave it, as he spoke, a wrench, that made me
cry out.

" Sir," said I, " it is for yourself I mean. The captain
is not what he used to be. He sits with a drawn cutlass.
Another gentleman "

" Come, now, march," interrupted he; and I never
heard a voice so cruel, and cold, and ugly as that blind
man's. It cowed me more than the pain; and I began
to obey him at once, walking straight in at the door and
towards the parlour, where our sick old buccaneer was
sitting, dazed with rum. The blind man clung close to
me, holding me in one iron fist, and leaning almost more
of his weight on me that I could carry. " Lead me straight
up to him, and when Fm in view, cry out, ' Here's a
friend for you, Bill '. If you don't, I'll do this;" and with
that he gave me a twitch that I thought would have made

28 TREASURE ISLAND

me faint. Between this and that, I wak so utterly terrified
of the blind beggar that I forgot my terror of the captain,
and as I opened the parlour door, cried out the words
he had ordered in a trembling voice.

The poor captain raised his eyes, and at one look the
rum went out of him, and left him staring sober. The
expression of his face was not so mUbh of terror as of
mortal sickness. He made a movement to rise, but I
do not believe he had enough force left in his body.

" Now, Bill, sit where you are," said the beggar. " If
I can't see, I can hear a finger stirring. Business is busi-
ness. Hold out your left hand. Boy, take his left hand
by the wrist, and bring it near to my right."

We both obeyed him to the letter, and I saw him pass
something from the hollow of the hand that held his
stick into the palm of the captain's, which closed upon
it instantly.

" And now that's done," said the blind man; and at
the words he suddenly left hold of me, and, with incredible
accuracy and nimbleness, skipped out of the parlour and
into the road, where, as I still stood motionless, I could
hear his stick go tap-tap-tapping into the distance.

It was some time before either I or the captain seemed
to gather our senses; but at length, and* about at the
same moment, I released his wrist, which I was still
holding, and he drew in his hand and looked sharply
into the palm.

" Ten o'clock!" he cried. " Six hours. We'll do them
yet;" and he sprang to his feet.

Even as he did so, he reeled, put his hand to his throat,
stood swaying for a moment, and then, with a peculiar
sound, fell from his whole height face-foremost to the
floor.

I ran to him at once, calling to my mother. But haste
was all in vain. The captain had been struck dead by

THE OLD BUCCANEER 39

thundering apoplexy. It is a curious thing to understand^
for I had certainly never liked the man, though of late
I had begun to pity him, but as soon as I saw that he
was dead I burst into a flood of tears. It was the second
death I had known, and the sorrow of the first was still
fresh in my heart.

CHAPTER IV

THE SEA-CHEST

I lost no time, of course, in telling my mother all that
knew, and perhaps should have told her long before,
and we saw ourselves at once in a difficult and dangerous
position. Some of the man's money if he had any
was certainly due to us; but it was not likely that our
captain's shipmates, above all the two specimens seen
by me, Black Dog and the blind beggar, would be inclined
to give up their booty in payment of the dead man's
debts. The captain's order to mount at once and ride
for Dr. Livesey would have left my mother alone and
unprotected, which was not to be thought of. Indeed,
it seemed impossible for either of us to remain much
longer in the house: the fall of coals in the kitchen grate,
the very ticking of the clock, filled us with alarms. The
neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by approach-
ing footsteps; and what between the dead body of the
captain on the parlour floor, and the thought of that
detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand, and ready
to return, there were moments when, as the saying goes,
I jumped in my skin for terror. Something must speedily
be resolved upon; and it occurred to us at last to go forth
together and seek help in the neighbouring hamlet. No
sooner said than done. Bare-headed as we were, we ran

30 TREASURE ISLAND

out at once in the gathering evening and the frosty fog.

The hamlet lay not many hundred yards away, though
out of view, on the other side of the next cove; and what
greati^ encouraged me, it was in an opposite direction
from that whence the blind man had made his appear-
ance, and whither he had presumably returned. We were
not many minutes on the road, though we sometimes
stopped to lay hold of each other and hearken. But
there was no unusual sound nothing but the low wash
of the ripple and the croaking of the crows in the wood.

It was already candle-light when we reached the hamlet,
and I shall never forget how much I was cheered to see
the yellow shine in doors and windows; but that, as it
proved, was the best of the help we were likely to ge*
in that quarter. For you would have thought men would
have been ashamed of themselves no soul would con-
sent to return with us to the " Admiral Benbow ". The
nnore we told of our troubles, the more man, woman,
and child they clung to the shelter of their houses.
The name of Captain Flint, though it was strange to me,
was well enough known to some there, and carried a
?reat weight of terror. Some of the men who had been
to field-work on the far side of the " Admiral Benbow "
remembered, besides, to have seen several strangers on
;he road, and, taking them to be smugglers, to have
molted away; and one at least had seen a little lugger
n what we called Kitt's Hole. For that matter, any-
one who was a comrade of the captain's was enough to
Tighten them to death. And the short and the long of
;he matter was, that while we could get several who
TOre willing enough to ride to Dr. Livesey's, which lay
n another direction, not one would help us to defend the
nn.

They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument
s, on the other hand, a great emboldener; and so when

THE OLD BUCCANEER 31

each had said his &y, my motner made them a speech.
She would not, she declared, lose money that belonged
to her fatherless boy; " If none of the rest of you dare,"
she said, " Jim and I dare. Back we will go, the way we
came, and small thanks to you big, hulking, chicken-
l^earted men. We'll have that chest open, if we die for
it. And I'll thank* you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, to
bring back our lawful money in."

Of course, I said I would go with my mother; and,
of course, they all cried out at our foolhardiness; but
even then not a man would go along with us. All they
would do was to give me a loaded pistol, lest we were
attacked; and to promise to have horses ready saddled,
V case we were pursued on our return; while one lad
was to ride forward to the doctor's in search of armed
assistance.

My heart was beating finely when we two set forth
in the cold night upon this dangerous venture. A full
moon was beginning to rise, and peered redly through the
upper edges of the fog, and this increased our haste, for
it was plain, before we came forth again, that all would
be as bright as day, and our departure exposed to the
eyes of any watchers. We slipped along the hedges,
noiseless and swift, nor did we see or hear anything to
increase our terrors, till, to our huge relief, the door of
the " Admiral Benbow " had closed behind us.

I slipped the bolt at once, and we stood and panted
for a moment in the dark, alone in the house with the
dead captain's body. Then my mother got a candle in
the bar, and, holding each other's hands, we advanced
into the parlour. He lay as we had left him, on his back,
with his eyes open, and one arm stretched out.

" Draw down the blind, Jim," whispered my mother;
" they might come and watch outside. And now," said
she, when I had done so, " we have to get the key off

32 TREASURE ISLAND

that; and who's to touch it, I shoulcMike to know!" and
she gave a kind of sob as she said the words.

I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close
to his hand there was a little round of paper, blackened
on the one side. I could not doubt that this was the
black spot; and taking it up, I found written on the other
side, in a very good, clear hand, Uhis short message:
" You have till ten to-night."

" He had till ten, mother," said I; and just as I said
it, our old clock began striking. This sudden noise
startled us shockingly; but the news was good, for it
was only six.

" Now, Jim," she said, " that key."

I felt in his pockets, one after another. A few smaP
coins, a thimble, and some thread and big needles, a
piece of pigtail tobacco bitten away at the end, his gully
with the crooked handle, a pocket compass, and a tinder-
box, were all that they contained, and I began to despair.

" Perhaps it's round his neck," suggested my mother.

Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore open his shirt
at the neck, and there, sure enough, hanging to a bit of
tarry string, which I cut with his own gully, we found
the key. At this triumph we were filled with hope, and
hurried upstairs, without delay, to the litiie room where
he had slept so long, and where his box had stood since
the day of his arrival.

It was like any other seaman's chest on the outside,
the initial " B " burned on the top of it with a hot iron,
and the corners somewhat smashed and broken as by
long, rough usage.

" Give me the key," said my mother; and though the
lock was very stiff, she had turned it and thrown back
the lid in a twinkling.

A strong smell of tobacco and tar rose from the interior,
but nothing was to be seen on the top except a suit of

(D419)

THE OLD BUCCANEER

33

very good clothes, oiarefully bhished and folded. They
had never been worn, my mother said. Under that, the
miscellany began a quadrant, a tin cannikin, several
sticks of tobacco, two brace of very handsome pistols, a
piece of bar silver, an old Spanish watch, and some other
trinkets of little value and mostly of foreign make, a pair
of compasses moun^d with brass, and five or six curious
West Indian shells. It has often set me thinking since
that he should have carried about these shells with him
in his wanHering, guilty, and hunted life.

In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value
but the silver and the trinkets, and neither of these were
in our way. Underneath there was an old boat-cloak,
^(hitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My
mother pulled it up with impatience, and there lay before
us the last things in the chest, a bundle tied up in oilcloth,
and looking like papers, and a canvas bag, that gave forth,
at a touch, the jingle of gold.

" I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman/'
said my mother. " I'll have my dues, and not a farthing
over. Hold Mrs. Crossley's bag." And she began to
count over the amount of the captain's score from the
sailor's bag into the one that I was holding.

It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of
all countries and sizes doubloons, and louis-d'ors, and
guineas, and pieces of eight, and I know not what besides,
all shaken together at random. The guineas, too, were
about the scarcest, and it was with these only that my
mother knew how to make her count.

When we were about half-way through, I suddenly
put my hand upon her arm; for I had heard in the silent,
frosty air, a sound that brought my heart into my mouth
the tap-tapping of the blind man's stick upon the frozen
road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our
breath. Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and then

<D419) B

34 TREASURE ISLAND

we could hear the handfe being ICirned, * and the bolt
rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; and then
there was a long time of silence both within and without.
At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our indescribable
joy and gratitude, died slowly away until it ceased to be
heard.

" Mother," said I, " take the whotaand let's be going;"
for I was sure the bolted door must have seemed suspicious,
and would bring the whole hornets' nest about our ears;
though how thankful I was that I had bolfed it none
could tell who had never met that terrible blind man.

But my mother, frightened as she was, wojild not con-
sent to take a fraction more than was due to her, and
was obstinately unwilling to be content with less. L
was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she knew her
rights and she would have them; and she was still arguing
with me, when a little low whistle sounded a good way
off upon the hill. That was enough, and more than enough,
for both of us.

" I'll take what I have," she said, jumping to her feet.

" And I'll take this to square the count," said I, picking
up the oilskin packet.

Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving
the candle by the empty chest; and the next we had
opened the door and were in full retreat. We had not
started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly dis-
persing; already the moon shone quite clear on the high
ground on either side; and it was only in the exact bottom
of the dell and round the tavern door that a thin veil
still hung unbroken to conceal the first steps of our
escape. Far less than half-way to the hamlet, very little
beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into
the moonlight. Nor was this all; for the sound of several
footsteps running came already to our ears, and as we
looked back in their direction, a light jtossing to and fro,

THE OLD BUCCANEER 35

and still rapiflly advancing, showed that one of the new-
comers carried a lantern.

" My dear," said my mother suddenly, " take the
money and run on. I am going to faint."

This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought.
How I cursed the cowardice of the neighbours; how I
blamed my poor mither for her honesty and her greed,
for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We
were just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I
helped her /tottering as she was, to the edge of the bank,
where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and fell on my
shoulder. \ do not know how I found the strength to
do it at all, and I am afraid it was roughly done; but I
Managed to drag her down the bank and a little way under
the arch. Farther I could not move her, for the bridge
was too low to let me do more than crawl below it. So
there we had to stay my mother almost entirely exposed,
and both of us within earshot of the inn.

CHAPTER V

LAST OF THE BLIND MAN

My curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear;
for I could not remain where I was, but crept back to the
bank again, whence, sheltering my head behind a bush
of broom, I might command the road before our door.
I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive,
seven or eight of them, running hard, their feet beating
out of time along the road, and the man with the lantern
some paces in front. Three men ran together, hand in
hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the
middle man of this trio was the blind beggar. The

36 TREASURE ISLAND

next moment his voice* showed me that I was right.

" Down with the door!" he cried.

" Ay, ay, sir!" answered two or three; and a rush was
made upon the " Admiral Benbow ", the lantern-bearer
following; and then I could see them pause, and hear
speeches passed in a lower key, as if they were surprised
to find the door open. But the pause was brief, for the
blind man again issued his commands. His voice sounded
louder and higher, as if he were afire with eagerness and
rage.

" In, in, in!" he shouted, and cursed them for their delay.

Four or five of them obeyed at once, two remaining
on the road with the formidable beggar. There was a
pause, then a cry of surprise, and then a voice shoutirg
from the house:

" Bill's dead!"

But the blind man swore at them again for their delay.

" Search him, some of you shirking lubbers, and the
rest of you aloft and get the chest," he cried.

I could hear their feet rattling up our old stairs, so
that the house must have shook with it. Promptly after-
wards, fresh sounds of astonishment arose; the window
of the captain's room was thrown open with a slam and
a jingle of broken glass; and a man learfed out into the
moonlight, head and shoulders, and addressed the blind
beggar on the road below him.

" Pew," he cried, " they've been before us. Someone's
turned the chest out alow and aloft."

" Is it there?" roared Pew.

" The money's there."

The blind man cursed the money.

" Flint's fist, I mean," he cried.

" We don't see it here nohow," returned the man.

" Here, you below there, is it on Bill?" cried the blind
man again.

THE OLD BUCCANEER 37

At that, anbther f^Jlow, prob&bly him who had remained
below to search the captain's body, came to the door of
the inn. " Bill's been overhauled a'ready," said he;
" nothin' left."

" It's these people of the inn it's that boy. I wish
I had put his eyes out!" cried the blind man, Pew. " They
were here no time go; they had the door bolted when
I tried it. Scatter, lads, and find 'em."

" Sure enough, they left their glim here," said the
fellow from the window.

" Scatter and find 'em! Rout the house out!" reiterated
Pew, striking with his stick upon the road.

Then there followed a great to-do through all our old
inn, heavy feet pounding to and fro, furniture thrown
over, doors kicked in, until the very rocks re-echoed, and
the men came out again, one after another, on the road,
and declared that we were nowhere to be found. And
just then the same whistle that had alarmed my mother
and myself over the dead captain's money was once more
clearly audible through the night, but this time twice
repeated. I had thought it to be the blind man's trumpet,
so to speak, summoning his crew to the assault; but I
now found that it was a signal from the hillside towards
the hamlet, andf from its effect upon the buccaneers, a
signal to warn them of approaching danger.

" There's Dirk again," said one. " Twice! We'll have
to budge, mates."

" Budge, you skulk!" cried Pew. " Dirk was a fool
and a coward from the first you wouldn't mind him.
They must be close by; they can't be far; you have your
hands on it. Scatter and look for them, dogs! Oh, shiver
my soul," he cried, " if I had eyes!"

This appeal seemed to produce some effect, for two
of the fellows began to look here and there among the
lumber, but half-heartedly, I thought, and with half an

38 TREASURE ISLAND

eye to their own danger a'll the time* while' the rest stood
irresolute on the road.

" You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and
you hang a leg! You'd be as rich as kings if you could
find it, and you know it's here, and you stand there
malingering. There wasn't one of you dared face Bill,
and I did it a blind man! And Fen to lose my chance
for you! I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for
rum, when I might be rolling in a coach! If you had the
pluck of a weevil in a biscuit you would r catch them
still."

" Hang it, Pew, we've got the doubloon^!" grumbled
one.

" They might have hid the blessed thing," said another.
" Take the Georges, Pew, and don't stand here squalling."

Squalling was the word for it, Pew's anger rose so high
at these objections; till at last, his passion completely
taking the upper hand, he struck at them right and left
in his blindness, and his stick sounded heavily on more
than one.

These, in their turn, cursed back at the blind miscreant,
threatened him in horrid terms, and tried in vain to catch
the stick and wrest it from his grasp.

This quarrel was the saving of us; for while it was
still raging, another sound came from the top of the
hill on the side of the hamlet the tramp of horses gallop-
ing. Almost at the same time a pistol-shot, flash and report,
came from the hedge side. And that was plainly the last
signal of danger; for the buccaneers turned at once and
ran, separating in every direction, one seaward along the
cove, one slant across the hill, and so on, so that in half
a minute not a sign of them remained but Pew. Him
they had deserted, whether in sheer panic, or out of
revenge for his ill words and blows, I know not; but there
he remained behind, tapping up and down the road in

THE OLD BUCCANEER 30

o

a frenzy, and groping and Sailing for his comrades.
Finally he took the wrong turn, and ran a few steps past
me towards the hamlet, crying:

" Johnny, Black Dog, Dirk," and other names, " you
won't leave old Pew, mates not old Pew!"

Just then the noise of horses topped the rise, and four
or five riders came in sight in the moonlight, and swept
at full gallop down the slope.

At this Pew saw his error, turned with a scream, and
ran straight for the ditch, into which he rolled. But he
was on his feet again in a second, and made another dash,
now utterly bewildered, right under the nearest of the
coming horses.

The rider tried to save him, but in vain. Down went
Pew with a cry that rang high into the night; and the
four hoofs trampled and spurned him and passed by.
He fell on his side, then gently collapsed upon his face,
and moved no more.

I leapt to my feet and hailed the riders. They were
pulling up, at any rate, horrified at the accident, and I soon
saw what they were. One, tailing out behind the rest,
was a lad that had gone from the hamlet to Dr. Livesey's;
the rest were revenue officers, whom he had met by the
way, and with \tfhom he had had the intelligence to return
at once. Some news of the lugger in Kitt's Hole had
found its way to Supervisor Dance, and set him forth
that night in our direction, and to that circumstance my
mother and I owed our preservation from death.

Pew was dead, stone dead. As for my mother, when
we carried her up to the hamlet, a little cold water and
salts and that soon brought her back again, and she was
none the worse for her terror, though she still continued
to deplore the balance of the money. In the meantime,
the supervisor rode on, as fast as he could, to Kitt's Hole;
but his men had to dismount and grope down the dingle,

40 TREASURE ISLAND

leading, and sometimes slipporting^ their horses, and in
continual fear of ambushes; so it was no great matter for
surprise that when they got down to the Hole the lugger
was already under way, though still close in. He hailed
her. A voice replied, telling him to keep out of the moon-
light, or he would get some lead in him, and at the same
time a bullet whistled close by his arm. Soon after, the
lugger doubled the point and disappeared. Mr, Dance
stood there, as he said, " like a fish out of water ", and

all he could do was to despatch a man to B- to warn

the cutter. " And that," said he, " is just about as good
as nothing. They've got off clean, and there's an end.
Only," he added, " I'm glad I trod on Master Pew's
corns;" for by this time he had heard my story.

I went back with him to the " Admiral Benbow ",
and you cannot imagine a house in such a state of smash;
the very clock had been thrown down by these fellows
in their furious hunt after my mother and myself, and
though nothing had been actually taken away except the
captain's money-bag and a little silver from the till, I
could see at once that we were ruined. Mr. Dance could
make nothing of the scene.

" They got the money, you say? Well, then, Hawkins,
what in fortune were they after; more maney, I suppose?"

" No, sir; not money, I think," replied I. " In fact,
sir, I believe I have the thing in my breast-pocket; and,
to tell you the truth, I should like to get it put in safety."

" To be sure, boy; quite right," said he. " I'll take it,
if you like."

" I thought, perhaps, Dr. Livesey " I began.

" Perfectly right," he interrupted, very cheerily, " per-
fectly right a gentleman and a magistrate. And, now
I come to think of it, I might as well ride round there
myself and report to him or squire. Master Pew's dead,
when all's done; not that I regret it, but he's dead, you

THE OLD BUCCANEER 4 r

see, and people wilUmake it otot against an officer of His
Majesty's revenue, if make it out they can. Now, I'll
tell you, Hawkins: if you like, I'll take you along."

I thanked him heartily for the offer, and we walked
back to the hamlet where the horses were. By the time I
had told mother of my purpose they were all in the saddle.

" Dogger," said Mr. Dance, " you have a good horse;
take up this lad behind you."

As soon as I was mounted, holding on to Dogger's belt,
the supervisor gave the word, and the party struck out
at a bouncing trot on the road to Dr. Livesey's house.

CHAPTER VI
THE CAPTAIN'S PAPERS

We rode hard all the way, till we drew up before Dr,
Livesey's door. The house was all dark to the front.

Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and
Dogger gave me a stirrup to descend by. The door was
opened almost at once by the maid.

" Is Dr. Livsey in?" I asked.

No, she said; he had come home in the afternoon,
but had gone up to the Hall to dine and pass the evening
with the squire.

" So there we go, boys," said Mr. Dance.

This time, as the distance was short, I did not mount,
but ran with Dogger's stirrup-leather to the lodge gates,
and up the long, leafless, moonlit avenue to where the
white line of the Hall buildings looked on either hand on
great old gardens. Here Mr. Dance dismounted, and,
taking me along with him, was admitted at a word into
the house.

(D419) B2

42 TREASURE ISLAND

The servant led us dowif a matted passage, and showed
us at the end into a great library, all lined with bookcases
and busts upon the top of them, where the squire and
Dr. Livesey sat, pipe in hand, on either side of a bright
fire.

I had never seen the squire so near at hand. He was
a tall man, over six feet high, and broad in proportion,
and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened
and reddened and lined in his long travels. His eyebrows
were very black, and moved readily, and this gave him
a look of some temper not bad, you would say, but
quick and high.

" Come in, Mr. Dance," says he, very stately and
condescending.

" Good evening, Dance," says the doctor, with a nod.
" And good evening to you, friend Jim. What good wind
brings you here?"

The supervisor stood up straight and stiff, and told his
story like a lesson; and you should have seen how the
two gentlemen leaned forward and looked at each other,
and forgot to smoke in their surprise and interest. When
they heard how my mother went back to the inn, Dr.
Livesey fairly slapped his thigh, and the squire cried,
" Bravo!" and broke his long pipe against the grate.
Long before it was done, Mr. Trelawney (that, you will
remember, was the squire's name) had got up from his
seat, and was striding about the room, and the doctor,
as if to hear the better, had taken off his powdered wig,
and sat there, looking very strange indeed with his own
close-cropped black poll.

At last Mr. Dance finished the story.

" Mr. Dance," said the squire, " you are a very noble
fellow. And as for riding down that black, atrocious
miscreant, I regard it as an act of virtue, sir, like stamping
on a cockroach. This lad Hawkins is a trump, I perceive.

THE OLD BUCCANEER 43

Hawkins,* will ygu ring that bell? Mr. Dance must
have some ale."

11 And so, Jim," said the doctor, " you have the thing
that they were after, have you?"

" Here it is, sir," said I, and gave him the oilskin
packet.

The doctor looked it all over, as if his fingers were
itching to open it; but, instead of doing that, he put it
quietly in the pocket of his coat.

" Squirt," said he, " when Dance has had his ale he
must, of course, be off on His Majesty's service; but I
mean to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at my house,
and, with your permission, I propose we should have
up the cold pie, and let him sup."

" As you will, Livesey," said the squire; " Hawkins
has earned better than cold pie."

So a big pigeon-pie was brought in and put on a side-
table, and I made a hearty supper, for I was as hungry
as a hawk, while Mr. Dance was further complimented,
and at last dismissed.

" And now, squire," said the doctor.

" And now, Livesey," said the squire, in the same
breath.

" One at a J:ime, one at time," laughed Dr. Livesey.
" You have heard of this Flint, I suppose?"

" Heard of him!" cried the squire. " Heard of him,
you say! He was the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed.
Blackbeard was a child to Flint. The Spaniards were so
prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I was
sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I've seen his
topsails with these eyes, off Trinidad, and the cowardly
son of a rum-puncheon that I sailed with put back put
back, sir, into Port of Spain."

" Well, I've heard of him myself, in England," said
the doctor. " But the point is, had he money?"

44 TREASURE ISLAND

" Money!" cried the * 4 u^e. " Have you* heard the
story? What were these villains after but money? What
do they care for but money? For what would they risk
their rascal carcasses but money?"

" That we shall soon know," replied the doctor. " But
you are so confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory
that I cannot get a word in. What I want to know is this:
Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue to
where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure amount
to much?"

" Amount, sir!" cried the squire. " It will amount to
chis: If we have the clue you talk about, I fit out a ship
in Bristol dock, and take you and Hawkins here along,
and I'll have that treasure if I search a year."

" Very well," said the doctor. " Now, then, if Jim is
agreeable, we'll open the packet;" and he laid it before
him on the table.

The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had
to get out his instrument-case, and cut the stitches with
his medical scissors. It contained two things a book
and a sealed paper.

" First of all we'll try the book," observed the doctor.

The squire and I were both peering over his shoulder
as he opened it, for Dr. Livesey had kindly motioned me
to come round from the side-table, where I had been
eating, to enjoy the sport of the search. On the first page
there were only some scraps of writing, such as a man
with a pen in his hand might make for idleness or practice.
One was the same as the tattoo mark, " Billy Bones his
fancy "; then there was " Mr. W. Bones, mate ". " No
more rum." " Off Palm Key he got itt "; and some other
snatches, most single words and unintelligible. I could
not help wondering who it was that had " got itt ", and
what " itt " was that he got. A knife in his back as like
as not.

THE OLD BUCCANEER 45

" Not much instruction there," said Dr. Livesey, as
he passed on.

The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious
series of entries. There was a date at one end of the
line and at the other a sum of money, as in common
account-books; but instead of explanatory writing, only
a "varying number of crosses between the two. On the
I2th of June, 1745, for instance, a sum of seventy pounds
had plainly become due to someone, and there was
nothing bu? six crosses to explain the cause. In a few
cases, to be sure, the name of a place would be added,
as " Offe Caraccas "; or a mere entry of latitude and
longitude, as " 62 17' 20", 19 2' 40" ".

The record lasted over nearly twenty years, the amount
of the separate entries growing larger as time went on,
and at the end a grand total had been made out after
five or six wrong additions, and these words appended,
" Bones, his pile ".

" I can't make head or tail of this,'* said Dr. Livesey.

" The thing is as clear as noonday," cried the squire.
" This is the black-hearted hound's account-book. These
crosses stand for the names of ships or towns that they
sank or plundered. The sums are the scoundrel's share,
and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added
something clearer. ' Offe Caraccas ', now; you see, here
was some unhappy vessel boarded off that coast. God
help the poor souls that manned her coral long
ago."

" Right!" said the doctor. " See what it is to be a
traveller. Rightl And the amounts increase, you see,
as he rose in rank."

There was little else in the volume but a few bearings
of places noted in the blank leaves towards the end,
and a table for reducing French, English, and Spanish
moneys to a common value.

46 TREASURE ISLAND

" Thrifty man!" cried tke doctor. c " He Wasn't the one
to be cheated."

" And now/' said the squire, " for the other."

The paper had been sealed in several places with a
thimble by way of seal; the very thimble, perhaps, that
I had found in the captain's pocket. The doctor opened
the seals with great care, and there fell out the map of
an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, names
of hills, and bays and inlets, and every particular that
would be needed to bring a ship to a safe ancfiorage upon
its shores. It was about nine miles long and five across,
shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon standing up,
and had two fine land-locked harbours, and a hill in the
centre part marked " The Spy-glass ". There were several
additions of a later date; but, above all, three crosses of
red ink two on the north part of the island, one in the
south-west, and, beside this last, in the same red ink,
and in a small, neat hand, very different from the captain's
tottery characters, these words: " Bulk of treasure here ".

Over on the back the same hand had written this further
information:

" Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the

N. of N.N.E.

" Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E.

" Ten feet.

" The bar silver is in the north cache; you can find it
by the trend of the east hummock, ten fathoms south of the
black crag with the face on it.

" The arms are easy found, in the sand hill, N. point of
north inlet cape, bearing E. and a quarter N.

" J. F."

That was all; but brief as it was, and, to me, incom-
prehensible, it filled the squire and Dr. Livesey with
delight.

" Livesey," said the squire, " you will give up this

THE OLD BUCCANEER 47

wretched practice ^t once. Tfe-morrow I start for Bristol.
In three weeks' time three weeks! two weeks ten
days we'll have the best ship, sir, and the choicest crew
in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin-boy. You'll
make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, are
ship's doctor; I am admiral. We'll take Redruth, Joyce,
and Hunter. We'll have favourable winds, a quick passage,
and not the least difficulty in finding the spot, and money
to eat to roll in to play duck- and- drake with ever after."

" TrelaVney," said the doctor, " I'll go with you;
and, I'll go bail for it, so will Jim, and be a credit to the
undertaking. There's only one man I'm afraid of."

" And who's that?" cried the squire. " Name the dog,
sir!"

" You," replied the doctor; " for you cannot hold
your tongue. We are not the only men who know of
this paper. These fellows who attacked the inn to-night
bold, desperate blades, for sure and the *rest who
stayed aboard that lugger, and more, I dare say, not far
off, are one and all, through thick and thin, bound that
they'll get that money. We must none of us go alone
till we get to sea. Jim and I shall stick together in the
meanwhile; you'll take Joyce and Hunter when you ride
to Bristol, and, from first to last, not one of us must
breathe a word of what we've found."

" Livesey," returned the squire, " you are always in the
right of it. I'll be as silent as the grave."

Part II The Sea- cook

CHAPTER VII

I GO TO BRISTOL

It was longer than the squire imagined ere we were
ready for the sea, and none of our first plans not even
Dr. Livesey's, of keeping me beside him could be
carried out as we intended. The doctor had to go to
London for a physician to take charge of his practice;
the squire was hard at work at Bristol; and I lived on at
the Hall under the charge of old Redruth, the game-
keeper, almost a prisoner, but full of sea-dreams and the
most charming anticipations of strange islands and adven-
tures. I brooded by the hour together over the map,
all the details of which I well remembered. Sitting by
the fire in the housekeeper's room, I approached that
island in my fancy from every possible direction; I
explored every acre of its surface; I climbed a thousand
times to that tall hill they call the Spy-glass, and from
the top enjoyed the most wonderful and changing pros-
pects. Sometimes the isle was thick with savages, with
whom we fought; sometimes full of dangerous animals
that hunted us; but in all my fancies nothing occurred
to me so strange and tragic as our actual adventures.

So the weeks passed on, till one fine day there came a
letter addressed to Dr. Livesey, with this addition, " To
be opened, in the case of his absence, by Tom Redruth,

48

THE SEA-COOK 49

or young Hawkins ^. Obeyitig this order, we found,
jr rather, I found for the gamekeeper was a poor hand
at reading anything but print the following important
news:

" Old Anchor Inn, Bristol, March 1, 17 .

" DEAR LIVESEY,

"As I do not know whether you are at
the Hall or still in London, I send this in double to both
places. |

" The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at anchor,
ready for sea. You never imagined a sweeter schooner
a child might sail her two hundred tons; name, His-
paniola.

" I got her through my old friend, Blandly, who has
proved himself throughout the most surprising trump.
The admirable fellow literally slaved in my interest, and
so, I may say, did everyone in Bristol, as soon as they
got wind of the port we sailed for treasure, I mean."

" Redruth," said I, interrupting the letter, " Dr.
Livesey will not like that. The squire has been talking,
after all."

" Well, who's a better right?" growled the game-
keeper. " A pi^tty rum go if squire ain't to talk for Dr.
Livesey, I should think."

At that I gave up all attempt at commentary, and read
straight on:

" Blandly himself found the Hispaniola, and by the
most admirable management got her for the merest trifle.
There is a class of men in Bristol monstrously prejudiced
against Blandly. They go the length of declaring that
this honest creature would do anything for money, that
the Hispaniola belonged to him, and that he sold it me
absurdly high the most transparent calumnies. None of
them dare, however, to deny the merits of the ship.

50 TREASURE ISLAND

" So far there was not ar hitch. T^e workpeople, to be
sure riggers and what not were most annoyingly slow;
but time cured that. It was the crew that troubled me.

" I wished a round score of men in case of natives,
buccaneers, or the odious French and I had the worry
of the deuce itself to find so much as half a dozen, till
the most remarkable stroke of fortune brought me tKe
very man that I required.

" I was standing on the dock, when, by the merest
accident, I fell in talk with him. I found he was an old
sailor, kept a public-house, knew all the seafaring men in
Bristol, had lost his health ashore, and wanted a good
berth as cook to get to sea again. He had hobbled down
there that morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt.

" I was monstrously touched so would you have been
and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the spot to
be ship's cook. Long John Silver, he is called, and has
lost a leg; but that I regarded as a recommendation,
since he lost it in his country's service, under the immortal
Hawke. He has no pension, Livesey. Imagine the
abominable age we live in!

" Well, sir, I thought I had only found a cook, but it
was a crew I had discovered. Between Silver and myself
we got together in a few days a company^of the toughest
old salts imaginable not pretty to look at, but fellows,
by their faces, of the most indomitable spirit. I declare
we could fight a frigate.

" Long John even got rid of two out of the six or seven
I had already engaged. He showed me in a moment that
they were just the sort of fresh- water swabs we had to
fear in an adventure of importance.

" I am in the most magnificent health and spirits, eat-
ing like a bull, sleeping like a tree, yet I shall not enjoy
a moment till I hear my old tarpaulins tramping round
the capstan. Seaward ho! Hang the treasure! It's the

THE SEA-COOK 51

glory of the sea thatjhas turned my head. So now, Livesey,
come post; do not lose an hour, if you respect me.

" Let young Hawkins go at once to see his mother,
with Redruth for a guard; and then both come full speed
to Bristol.

" JOHN TRELAWNEY.

" Postcript. I did not tell you that Blandly, who, by
the way, is to send a consort after us if we don't turn up
by the en$l of August, had found an admirable fellow for
sailing master a stiff man, which I regret, but, in all other
respects, a treasure. Long John Silver unearthed a very
competent .man for a mate, a man named Arrow. I have
a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things shall go man-
o'-war fashion on board the good ship Hispaniola.

" I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of substance;
I know of my own knowledge that he has a banker's
account, which has never been overdrawn. He leaves his
wife to manage the inn; and as she is a woman of colour,
a pair of old bachelors like you and I may be excused for
guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the health,
that sends him back to roving.

" J. T.

" P.P.S. I^pwkins may stay one night with his mother.

T rp

You can fancy the excitement into which that letter
put me. I was half beside myself with glee; and if ever I
despised a man, it was old Tom Redruth, who could do
nothing but grumble and lament. Any of the under-
gamekeepers would gladly have changed places with him;
but such was not the squire's pleasure, and the squire's
pleasure was like law among them all. Nobody but old
Redruth would have dared so much as even to grumble.

The next morning he and I set out on foot for the

52 TREASURE ISLAND

\

" Admiral Benbow ", and ^here I found my mother in
good health and spirits. The captain, who had so long
been a cause of so much discomfort, was gone where the
wicked cease from troubling. The squire had had every-
thing repaired, and the public rooms and the sign re-
painted, and had added some furniture above all, a
beautiful arm-chair for mother in the bar. He had found
her a boy as an apprentice also, so that she should not
want help while I was gone. ,

It was on seeing that boy that I understood, for the
first time, my situation. I had thought, up to that moment,
of the adventures before me, not at all of the home that
I was leaving; and now, at sight of this clumsy stranger,
who was to stay here in my place beside my mother, I
had my first attack of tears. I am afraid I led that boy
a dog's life; for as he was new to the work, I had a
hundred opportunities of setting him right and putting
him down, and I was not slow to profit by them.

The night passed, and the next day, after dinner, Red-
ruth and I were afoot again, and on the road. I said good-
bye to mother and the cove where I had lived since I
was born, and the dear old " Admiral Benbow " since
he was repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my
last thoughts was of the captain, who had $o often strode
along the beach with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek,
and his old brass telescope. Next moment we had turned
the corner, and my home was out of sight.

The mail picked us up about dusk at the " Royal
George " on the heath. I was wedged in between Red-
ruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the swift
motion and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great
deal from the very first, and then slept like a log up hill
and down dale through stage after stage; for when I
was awakened, at last, it was by a punch in the ribs, and
I opened my eyes, to find that we were standing still

THE SEA-COOK 53

before a large building in a <jity street, and that the
day had already broken a long time.

" Where are we?" I asked.

" Bristol," said Tom. " Get down."

Mr. Trelawney had taken up his residence at an inn
far down the docks, to superintend the work upon the
schooner. Thither we had now to walk, and our way,
to my great delight, lay along the quays and beside the
great multitude of ships of all sizes and rigs and nations.
In one, sailots were singing at their work; in another, there
were men aloft, high over my head, hanging to threads
that seemed no thicker than a spider's. Though I had
lived by the shore all my life, I seemed never to have
been near the sea till then. The smell of tar and salt
was something new. I saw the most wonderful figure-
heads, that had all been far over the ocean. I saw, besides,
many old sailors, with rings in their ears, and whiskers
curled in ringlets, and tarry pigtails, and their swaggering,
clumsy sea-walk; and if I had seen as many kings or
archbishops I could not have been more delighted.

And I was going to sea myself; to sea in a schooner,
with a piping boatswain, and pigtailed singing seamen;
to sea, bound for an unknown island, and to seek for
buried treasures!*

While I was still in this delightful dream, we came
suddenly in front of a large inn, and met Squire Tre-
lawney, all dressed out like a sea-officer, in stout blue
cloth, coming out of the door with a smile on his face
and a capital imitation of a sailor's walk.

" Here you are," he cried, " and the doctor came last
night from London. Bravo! the ship's company com-
plete!"

" Oh, sir," cried I, " when do we sail?"

" Sail!" says he. " We sail to-morrow!"

54 TREASURE ISLAND

CHAPTER VIII

AT THE SIGN OF THE " SPY-GLASS "

When I had done breakfasting the squire gave me a
note addressed to John Silver, at the sign of the " Spy-
glass ", and told me I should easily find the place by
following the line of the docks, and keeping a bright
look-out for a little tavern with a large brass telescope
for sign. I set off, overjoyed at this opportunity to see
some more of the ships and seamen, and picked my way
among a great crowd of people and carts and bales, for
the dock was now at its busiest, until I found the tavern
in question.

It was a bright enough little place of entertainment.
The sign was newly painted; the windows had neat red
curtains; the floor was cleanly sanded. There was a
street on either side, and an open door on both, which
made the large, low room pretty clear to see in, in spite
of clouds of tobacco smoke.

The customers were mostly seafaring men; and they
talked so loudly that I hung at the door, almost afraid
to enter. ^

As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room,
and, at a glance, I was sure he must be Long John. His
left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left
shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with
wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird.
He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham
plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling. Indeed,
he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling as he
moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a
slap on the shoulder for the more favoured of his guests.

Now, to tell the truth, from the very first mention

THE SEA-COOK 55

of Long John in Sqyuire Trelawney's letter, I had taken
a fear in my mind that he might prove to be the very
one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at
the old " Benbow ". But one look at the man before
me was enough. I had seen the captain, and Black Dog,
and the blind man Pew, and I thought I knew what a
Buccaneer was like a very different creature, according
to me, from this clean and pleasant- tempered landlord.

I plucke^d up courage at once, crossed the threshold,
and walked right up to the man where he stood, propped
on his crutch, talking to a customer.

" Mr. Silver, sir?" I asked, holding out the note.

" Yes, my lad," said he; " such is my name, to be
sure. And who may you be?" And then as he saw the
squire's letter, he seemed to me to give something almost
like a start.

" Oh!" said he, quite loud, and offering his hand, " I
see. You are our new cabin-boy; pleased I am to see
you."

And he took my hand in his large firm grasp.

Just then one of the customers at the far side rose
suddenly and made for the door. It was close by him,
and he was out in the street in a moment. But his hurry
had attracted my notice, and I recognized him at a glance.
It was the tallow-faced man, wanting two fingers, who
had come first to the " Admiral Benbow ".

" Oh," I cried, " stop him! it's Black Dog!"

" I don't care two coppers who he is," cried Silver.
" But he hasn't paid his score. Harry, run and catch
him."

One of the others who was nearest the door leaped
up, and started in pursuit.

" If he were Admiral Hawke he shall pay his score,"
cried Silver; and then, relinquishing my hand " Who
did you say he was?" he asked. " Black what?"

56 TREASURE ISLAND

" Dog, sir," said I. "<Has Mr. Trelawney not told
you of the buccaneers? He was one of them."

" So?" cried Silver. " In my house! Ben, run and help
Harry. One of those swabs, was he? Was that you
drinking with him, Morgan? Step up here."

The man whom he called Morgan an old, grey-
haired, mahogany-faced sailor came forward pretty
sheepishly, rolling his quid.

" Now, Morgan," said Long John, very steigaly; " you
never clapped your eyes on that Black Black Dog before,
did you, now?"

" Not I, sir," said Morgan, with a salute.

" You didn't know his name, did you?"

" No, sir."

" By the powers, Tom Morgan, it's as good for you!"
exclaimed the landlord. " If you had been mixed up
with the like of that, you would never have put another
foot in my house, you may lay to that. And what was
he saying to you?"

" I don't rightly know, sir," answered Morgan.

" Do you call that a head on your shoulders, or a
blessed dead-eye?" cried Long John. " Don't rightly
know, don't you! Perhaps you don't happen to rightly
know who you was speaking to, perhapr? Come, now,
what was he jawing v'yages, cap'ns, ships? Pipe up!
What was it?"

" We was a-talkin' of keel-hauling," answered Morgan.

" Keel-hauling, was you? and a mighty suitable thing,
too, and you may lay to that. Get back to your place for
a lubber, Tom."

And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver
added to me in a confidential whisper, that was very
flattering, as I thought:

" He's quite an honest man, Tom Morgan, on'y stupid.
And now," he ran on again, aloud, " let's see Black

THE SEA-COOK 57

Dog? No, I don't Igiow the imme, not I. Yet I kind of
think I've yes, I've seen the swab. He used to come
here with a blind beggar, he used."

" That he did, you may be sure," said I. " I knew that
blind man, too. His name was Pew."

" It was!" cried Silver, now quite excited. " Pew!
That were his name for certain. Ah, he looked a shark,
he did! If we run down this Black Dog, now, there'll
be news fpr Cap'n Trelawney! Ben's a good runner;
few seamen run better than Ben. He should run him
down, hand over hand, by the powers! He talked o' keel-
hauling, di4 he? I'll keel-haul him!"

All the time he was jerking out these phrases he was
stumping up and down the tavern on his crutch, slapping
tables with his hand, and giving such a show of excite-
ment as would have convinced an Old Bailey judge or a
Bow Street runner. My suspicions had been thoroughly
reawakened on finding Black Dog at the " Spy-glass ",
and I watched the cook narrowly. But he was too deep,
and too ready, and too clever for me, and by the time
the two men had come back out of breath, and confessed
that they had lost the track in a crowd, and been scolded
like tnieves, I would have gone bail for the innocence of
Long John Sihter.

" See here, now, Hawkins," said he, " here's a blessed
hard thing on a man like me, now, ain't it? There's
Cap'n Trelawney what's he to think? Here I have this
confounded son of a Dutchman sitting in my own house,
drinking of my own rum! Here you comes and tells
me of it plain; and here I let him give us all the slip
before my blessed dead-lights! Now, Hawkins, you do
me justice with the cap'n. You're a lad, you are, but
you're as smart as paint. I see that when you first came
in. Now, here it is: What could I do, with this old timber
I hobble on? When I was an A.B. master mariner I'd

58 TREASURE ISLAND

have come up alongside vf him, h^nd over hand, and
broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but
now "

And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw
dropped as though he had remembered something.

" The score!" he burst out. " Three goes o' rum!
Why, shiver my timbers, if I hadn't forgotten my
score! "

And, falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears
ran down his cheeks. I could not help joining; and we
laughed together, peal after peal, until the tavern rang
again.

" Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!" he said
at last, wiping his cheeks. " You and me should get on
well, Hawkins, for I'll take my davy I should be rated
ship's boy. But come now, stand by to go about. This
won't do. Dooty is dooty, messmates. I'll put on my
old cocked hat, and step along of you to Cap'n Trelawney,
and report this here affair. For, mind you, it's serious,
young Hawkins; and neither you nor me's come out
of it with what I should make so bold as to call credit.
Nor you neither, says you; not smart none of the pair
of us smart. But dash my buttons! that was a good 'un
about my score." >r

And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily,
that though I did not see the joke as he did, I was again
obliged to join in his mirth.

On our little walk along the quays, he made himself
the most interesting companion, telling me about the
different ships that we passed by, their rig, tonnage, and
nationality, explaining the work that was going forward
how one was discharging, another taking in cargo, and a
third making ready for sea; and every now and then
telling me some little anecdote of ships or seamen, or
repeating a nautical phrase till I had learned it perfectly.

THE SEA-COOK 59

I began to see ^that faere was cftie ot tne best of possible
shipmates.

When we got to the inn, the squire and Dr. Livesey
were seated together, finishing a quart of ale with a toast
in it, before they should go aboard the schooner on a
visit of inspection.

1 Long John told the story from first to last, with a
great deal of spirit and the most perfect truth. " That
was how it; were, now, weren't it, Hawkins?" he would
say now and again, and I could always bear him entirely
out.

The two gentlemen regretted that Black Dog had got
away; but we all agreed there was nothing to be done,
and after he had been complimented, Long John took
up his crutch and departed.

" All hands aboard by four this afternoon," shouted
the squire after him.

" Ay, ay, sir," cried the cook, in the passage.

" Well, squire," said Dr. Livesey, " I don't put much
faith in your discoveries as a general thing; but I will
say this John Silver suits me."

" The man's a perfect trump," declared the squire.

" And now," added the doctor, " Jim may come on
board with us, may he not?"

" To be sure he may," says squire. " Take your hat,
Hawkins, and we'll see the ship."

CHAPTER IX

POWDER AND ARMS

The Hispaniola lay some way out, and we went under
the figureheads and round the sterns of many other
ships, and their cables sometimes grated underneath our

60 TREASURE ISLAND

keel, and sometimes swutig above KS. At last, however,
we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped
aboard by the mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor, with
ear-rings in his ears and a squint. He and the squire
were very thick and friendly, but I soon observed that
things were not the same between Mr. Trelawney and
the captain.

This last was a sharp-looking man, who seemed angry
with everything on board, and was soon to fcell us why,
for we had hardly got down into the cabin when a sailor
followed us.

" Captain Smollett, sir, axing to speak with you," said he.

6 I am always at the captain's orders. Show him in,"
said the squire.

The captain, who was close behind his messenger,
entered at once, and shut the door behind him.

" Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All
well, I hope; all shipshape and seaworthy?"

" Well, sir," said the captain, " better speak plain, I
believe, even at the risk of offence. I don't like this cruise;
I don't like the men; and I don't like my officer. That's
short and sweet."

" Perhaps, sir, you don't like the ship?" inquired the
squire, very angry, as I could see.

" I can't speak as to that, sir, not having seen her
tried," said the captain. " She seems a clever craft;
more I can't say."

" Possibly, sir, you may not like your employer, either?"
says the squire.

But here Dr. Livesey cut in.

" Stay a bit," said he, " stay a bit. No use of such
questions as that but to produce ill-feeling. The captain
has said too much or he has said too little, and I'm
bound to say that I require an explanation of his words.
You don't, you say, like this cruise. Now, why?"

THE SEA-HOOK 61

" I was engaged, usir, on wfiat we call sealed orders,
to sail this ship for that gentleman where he should bid
me," said the captain. " So far so good. But now I
find that every man before the mast knows more than
I do. I don't call that fair, now do you?"

" No," said Dr. Livesey, " I don't."

" Next," said the captain, " I learn we are going after
treasure hear it from my own hands, mind you. Now,
treasure is ,icklish work; I don't like treasure voyages on
any account; and I don't like them, above all, when they
are secret, and when (begging your pardon, Mr. Tre-
lawney) the secret has been told to the parrot."

" Silver's parrot?" asked the squire.

" It's a way of speaking," said the captain. " Blabbed,
I mean. It's my belief neither of you gentlemen know
what you are about; but I'll tell you my way of it
life or death, and a close run."

" That is all clear, and, I dare say, true enough,"
replied Dr. Livesey. " We take the risk; but we are not
so ignorant as you believe us. Next, you say you don't
tike the crew. Are they not good seamen?"

" I don't like them, sir," returned Captain Smollett.
" And I think I should have had the choosing of my own
hands, if you go to that."

" Perhaps you should," replied the doctor. " My
friend should perhaps have taken you along with him;
but the slight, if there be one, was unintentional. And
you don't like Mr. Arrow?"

" I don't, sir. I believe he's a good seaman; but he's
too free with the crew to be a good officer. A mate should
keep himself to himself shouldn't drink with the men
before the mast!"

" Do you mean he drinks?" cried the squire.

" No, sir," replied the captain; " only that he's too
: amiliar."

62 TREASURE ISLAND

" Well, now, and the Short ancUJorg^of it, captain?"
asked the doctor. " Tell us what you want."

" Well, gentlemen, are you determined to go on this
cruise?"

" Like iron," answered the squire.

" Very good," said the captain. " Then as you've
heard me very patiently, saying things that I could not
prove, hear me a few words more. They are putting
the powder and the arms in the fore hold. Ncfov, you have
a good place under the cabin; why not put them there?
first point. Then you are bringing four of your own
people with you, and they tell me some of tfr.em are to be
berthed forward. Why not give them the berths here
beside the cabin? second point."

" Any more?" asked Mr. Trelawney.

" One more," said the captain. " There's been too
much blabbing already."

" Far too much," agreed the doctor.

" I'll tell you what I've heard myself," continued Cap-
tain Smollett: " that you have a map of an island;
that there's crosses on the map to show where treasure

is; and that the island lies " And then he named the

latitude and longitude exactly.

" I never told that," cried the squirt, " to a soul!"

" The hands know it, sir," returned the captain.

" Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins," cried
the squire.

" It doesn't much matter who it was," replied the doctor.
And I could see that neither he nor the captain paid much
regard to Mr. Trelawney's protestations. Neither did I,
to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet in this case I
believe he was really right, and that nobody had told the
situation of the island.

" Well, gentlemen," continued 1 the captain, " I don't
know who has this map; but I make it a point, it shall

THE SEA-COOK 63

be kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow. Otherwise
I would ask you to let me resign."

" I see," said the doctor. " You wish us to keep this
matter dark, and to make a garrison of the stern part of
the ship, manned with my friend's own people, and pro-
vided with all the arms and powder on board. In other
words, you fear a mutiny."

" Sir," said Captain Smollett, " with no intention to
take offence, I deny your right to put words into my
mouth. No captain, sir, would be justified in going to
sea at all if he had ground enough to say that. As for
Mr. Arrow, T believe him thoroughly honest; some of
the men are the same; all may be for what I know. But
I am responsible for the ship's safety and the life of
every man- Jack aboard of her. I see things going, as I
think, not quite right. And I ask you to take certain
precautions, or let me resign my berth. And that's all."

" Captain Smollett," began the doctor, with a smile,
tf did ever you hear the fable of the mountain and the
mouse? You'll excuse me, I dare say, but you remind
me of that fable. When you came in here I'll stake my
wig you meant more than this."

" Doctor," said the captain, " you are smart. When
I came in here I rr eant to get discharged. I had no thought
that Mr. Trelawney would hear a word."

" No more I would," cried the squire. " Had Livesey
not been here, I should have seen you to the deuce. As
it is, I have heard you. I will do as you desire; but I
think the worse of you."

" That's as you please, sir," said the captain. " You'll
find I do my duty."

And with that he took his leave.

" Trelawney," said the doctor, " contrary to all my
notions, I believe you have managed to get two honest
men on board with you that man and John Silver."

64 TREASURE ISLAND

" Silver, if you like,"* cried the ..snuire; " but as for
that intolerable humbug, I declare I thinK his conduct
unmanly, unsailorly, and downright un-English."

" Well," says the doctor, " we shall see."

When we came on deck, the men had begun already
to take out the arms and powder, yo-ho-ing at their work,
while the captain and Mr. Arrow stood by superintending.

The new arrangement was quite to my liking. The
whole schooner had been overhauled; six berths had been
made astern, out of what had been the after-part of the
main hold; and this set of cabins was only joined to
the galley and forecastle by a sparred passage on the
port side. It had been originally meant that the captain,
Mr. Arrow, Hunter, Joyce, the doctor, and the squire,
were to occupy these six berths. Now, Redruth and I
were to get two of them, and Mr. Arrow and the captain
were to sleep on deck in the companion, which had been
enlarged on each side till you might almost have called it
a round-house. Very low it was still, of course; but there
was room to swing two hammocks, and even the mate
seemed pleased with the arrangement. Even he, perhaps,
had been doubtful as to the crew, but that is only guess;
for, as you shall hear, we had not long the benefit of his
opinion.

We were all hard at work, changing the powder and
the berths, when the last man or two, and Long John
along with them, came off in a shore-boat.

The cook came up the side like a monkey for clever-
ness, and, as soon as he saw what was doing, " So ho,
mates!" says he, " what's this?"

" We're a-changing of the powder, Jack," answers one.

" Why, by the powers," cried Long John, " if we do,
we'll miss the morning tide!"

" My orders!" said the captain shortly. " You may
go below, my man. Hands will want supper."

THE SEA-COOK 65

" Ay, ay, sir^inniyered the*cook; and, touching his
forelock, he disappeared at once in the direction of the
galley.

" That's a good man, captain," said the doctor.

" Very likely, si*-," replied Captain Smollett. " Easy
with that, men easy," he ran on, to the fellows who
were shifting the powder; and then suddenly observing
me examining the swivel we carried amidships, a long
brass nine 5f " Here, you ship's boy," he cried, " out o'
that! Off with you to the cook and get some work."

And then as I was hurrying off, I heard him say, quite
loudly, to the doctor:

" I'll have no favourites on my ship/*

I assure you I was quite of the squire's way of drinking,
and hated the captain deeply.

CHAPTER X

THE VOYAGE

All the night we were in a great bustle getting things
stowed in their place, and boatfuls of the squire's friends,
Mr. Blandly and^the like, coming off to wish him a good
voyage and a safe return. We never had a night at the
" Admiral Benbow " when I had half the work; and I
was dog-tired when, a little before dawn, the boatswain
sounded his pipe, and the crew began to man the capstan-
bars. I might have been twice as weary, yet I would not
have left the deck; all was so new and interesting to me
the brief commands, the shrill note of the whistle, the
men bustling to their places in the glimmer of the ship's
lanterns.

" Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave," cried one voice.

" The old one," cried another.

(D419) C

66 TREASURE ISLAND

" Ay, ay, mates," said .Long John\^^r was standing by,
with his crutch under his arm, and at once broke out in
the air and words I knew so well:

" Fifteen men on the dead man's chest "

and then the whole crew bore chorus
" Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

And at the third " ho!" drove the bars before them with
a will.

Even at that exciting moment it carried me back to
the old " Admiral Benbow " in a second; <and I seemed
to hear the voice of the captain piping in the chorus.
But soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging
dripping at the bows; soon the sails began to draw,
and the land and shipping to flit by on either side; and
before I could lie down to snatch an hour of slumber the
Hispaniola had begun her voyage to the Isle of Treasure.

I am not going to relate that voyage in detail. It was
fairly prosperous. The ship proved to be a good ship,
the crew were capable seamen, and the captain thoroughly
understood his business. But before we came the length
of Treasure Island two or three things had happened
which require to be known. (

Mr. Arrow, first of all, turned out even worse than
the captain had feared. He had no command among the
men, and people did what they pleased with him. But
that was by no means the worst of it; for after a day or
two at sea he began to appear on deck with hazy eye,
red cheeks, stuttering tongue, and other marks of drunken-
ness. Time after time he was ordered below in disgrace.
Sometimes he fell and cut himself; sometimes he lay all
day long in his little bunk at one side of the companion;
sometimes for a day or two he would be almost sober,
and attend to his work at least passably.

THE SEA-COOK 67

In the meatitijjjgpjjjg could never make out where he
got the drink/ That was the ship's mystery. Watch him
as we pleased, we could do nothing to solve it; and when
we asked him to his face, he would only laugh, if he were
drunk, and if he were sober, deny solemnly that he ever
tasted anything but water.

He was not only useless as an officer, and a bad influence
amongst the men, but it was plain that at this rate he
must soon kill himself outright; so nobody was much
surprised, nor very sorry, when one dark night, with a
head sea, he disappeared entirely and was seen no more.

" Overboard!" said the captain. " Well, gentlemen,
that saves the trouble of putting him in irons."

But there we were, without a mate; and it was necessary,
of course, to advance one of the men. The boatswain,
Job Anderson, was the likeliest man aboard, and, though
he kept his old title, he served in a way as mate. Mr.
Trelawney had followed the sea, and his knowledge made
him very useful, for he often took a watch himself in
easy weather. And the coxswain, Israel Hands, was a
careful, wily, old, experienced seaman, who could be
trusted at a pinch with almost anything.

He was a great confidant of Long John Silver, and
so the mention ofrhis name leads me on to speak of our
ship's cook, Barbecue, as the men called him.

Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round
his neck, to have both hands as free as possible. It was
something to see him wedge the foot of the crutch against
a bulkhead, and, propped against it, yielding to every
movement of the ship, get on with his cooking like some-
one safe ashore. Still more strange was it to see him in
the heaviest of weather cross the deck. He had a line or
two rigged up to help him across the widest spaces
Long John's ear-rings, they were called; and he would
hand himself from one place to another, now using the

68 TREASURE ISLAND

crutch, now trailing it alongside t%th lanyard, as quickly
as another man could walk. Yet some 61 the men who
had sailed with him before expressed their pity to see
him so reduced.

" He's no comman man, Barbecue," said the coxswain
to me. " He had good schooling in his young days, and
can speak like a book when so minded; and brave 1 a
lion's nothing alongside of Long John! I seen him
grapple four, and knock their heads together him un-
armed."

All the crew respected, and even obeyed him. He
had a way of talking to each, and doing eyerybody some
particular service. To me he was unweariedly kind; and
always glad to see me in the galley, which he kept as clean
as a new pin; the dishes hanging up burnished, and his
parrot in a cage in one corner.

" Come away, Hawkins," he would say; " come and
have a yarn with John. Nobody more welcome than your-
self, my sun. Sit you down and hear the news. Here's
Cap'n Flint I calls my parrot Cap'n Flint, after the
famous buccaneer here's Cap'n Flint predicting suc-
cess to our v'yage. Wasn't you, cap'n?"

And the parrot would say, with great rapidity, " Pieces
of eight! pieces of eight! pieces of eight!" till you won-
dered that it \fas not out of breath, or till John threw
his handkerchief over the cage.

" Now, that bird," he would say, " is, may be, two
hundred years old, Hawkins tney lives for ever mostly;
and if anybody's seen more wickedness, it must be the
devil himself. She's sailed with England, the great Cap'n
England, the pirate. She's been at Madagascar, and at
Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello.
She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. It's
there she learned ' Pieces of eight ', and little wonder;
three hundred and fifty thousand of 'em, Hawkins! She

THE SEA-COOK 69

was at the boar^ijMfcigf the Vic y of the Indies out of
Goa, she was; and to look at her you would think she
was a babby. But you smelt powder didn't you, cap'n?"

" Stand by to go about," the parrot would scream.

" Ah, she's a handsome craft, she is," the cook would
say, and give her sugar from his pocket, and then the
bird would peck at the bars and swear straight on, passing
belief for wickedness. " There," John would add, " you
can't touch*pitch and not be mucked, lad. Here's this
poor old innocent bird o' mine swearing blue fire, and
none the wiser, you may lay to that. She would swear
the same, iij. a manner of speaking, before chaplain."
And John would touch his forelock with a solemn way
he had, that made me think he was the best of men.

In the meantime, the squire and Captain Smollett were
still on pretty distant terms with one another. The squire
made no bones about the matter; he despised the captain.
The captain, on his part, never spoke but when he was
spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and not a
word wasted. He owned, when driven into a corner,
that he seemed to have been wrong about the crew, that
some of them were as brisk as he wanted to see, and all
had behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken
a downright fanay to her. " She'll lie a point nearer the
wind than a man has a right to expect of his own married
wife, sir. But," he would add, " all I say is we're not
home again, and I don't like the cruise."

The squire, at this, would turn away and march up
and down the deck, chin in air.

" A trifle more of that man," he would say, " and I
should explode."

We had some heavy weather, which only proved the
qualities of the Hispaniola. Every man on board seemed
well content, and they must have been hard to please
if they had been otherwise; for it is my belief there was

70 TREASURE ISLAND

i

never a ship's company s spoiled jjmce Noah put to sea.
Double grog was going on the least excuse; there was
duff on odd days, as, for instance, if the squire heard it
was any man's birthday, and always a barrel of apples
standing broached in the waist, for anyone to help him-
self that had a fancy.

" Never knew good come of it yet," the captain said
to Dr. Livesey. " Spoil foc's'le hands, make devils. That's
my belief." i

But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall
hear; for if it had not been for that we should have
had no note of warning, and might all hav? perished by
the hand of treachery.

This was how it came about.

We had run up the trades to get the wind of the island
we were after I am not allowed to be more plain and
now we were running down for it with a bright look-out
day and night. It was about the last day of our outward
voyage, by the largest computation; some time that night;
or, at latest, before noon of the morrow, we should sight
the Treasure Island. We were heading S.S.W., and had
a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea. The Hispaniola
rolled steadily, dipping her bowsprit now and then with
a whiff of spray. All was drawing alow <ind aloft; every-
one was in the bravest spirits, because we were now so
near an end of the first part of our adventure.

Now, just after sundown, when all my work was over,
and I was on my way to my berth, it occurred to me that
I should like an apple. I ran on deck. The watch was all
forward looking out for the island. The man at the helm
was watching the luff of the sail, and whistling away
gently to himself; and that was the only sound excepting
the swish of the sea against the bows and around the sides
of the ship.

In I got bodily into the apple barrel, and found there

THE SEA-COOK 71

was scarce an aixptWlgft; but, "Sitting down there in the
dark, what With the sound of the waters and the rocking
movement of the ship, I had either fallen asleep, or
was on the point of doing so, when a heavy man sat
down with rather a clash close by. The barrel shook as
he leaned his shoulders against it, and I was just about
to jump up when the man began to speak. It was Silver's
voice, and, before I had heard a dozen words, I would
not have shbwn myself for all the world, but lay there,
trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and
curiosity; for from these dozen words I understood that
the lives of all the honest men aboard depended upon
me alone.

CHAPTER XI

WHAT I HEARD IN THE APPLE BARREL

" No, not I," said Silver. " Flint was cap'n; I was
quartermaster, along of my timber leg. The same broad-
side I lost my leg old Pew lost his dead-lights. It was a
master surgeon, him that ampytated me out of college
and all Latin by the bucket, and what not: but he was
hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso
Castle. That was Roberts' men, that was, and corned of
changing names to their ships Royal Fortune and so on.
Now, what a ship was christened, so let her stay, I says.
So it was with the Cassandra, as brought us all safe home
from Malabar, after England took the Viceroy of the
Indies; so it was with the old Walrus, Flint's old ship,
as I've seen a-muck with the red blood and fit to sink
with gold."

" Ah!" cried another voice, that of the youngest hand
on board, and evidently full of admiration, " he was the
flower of the flock, was Flint!"

72 TREASURE ISLAND

" Davis was a man, to, by all jjpgpints," said Silver.
" I never sailed along of him; first with J&ngland, then
with Flint, that's my story; and now here on my own
account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine hundred
safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint. That
ain't bad for a man before the mast all safe in bank.
'Tain't earning now, it's saving does it, you may lay to
that. Where's all England's men now? I dunno. Where's
Flint's? Why, most on 'em aboard here, and glad to get
the duff been begging before that, some on 'em. Old
Pew, as had lost his sight, and might have thought shame,
spends twelve hundred pound in a year, l,ike a lord in
Parliament. Where is he now? Well, he's dead now
and under hatches; but for two year before that, shiver
my timbers! the man was starving. He begged, and he
stole, and he cut throats, and starved at that, by the
powers!"

" Well, it ain't much use, after all/' said the young
seaman.

" 'Tain't much use for fools, you may lay to it that,
nor nothing," cried Silver. " But now, you look here:
you're young, you are, but you're as smart as paint.
I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I'll talk to you
like a man." A

You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abomin-
able old rogue addressing another in the very same words
of flattery as he had used to myself. I think, if I had
been able, that I would have killed him through the
barrel. Meantime, he ran on, little supposing he was
overheard.

" Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives
rough, and they risk swinging, but they eat and drink
like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise is done, why, it's
hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings in
their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good

THE SEA-COOK 73

fling, and to sea.tjgjc^in their^hirts. But that's not the
course I layl I puts it all away, some here, some there,
and none too much anywheres, by reason of suspicion.
I'm fifty, mark you; once back from this cruise, I set
up gentleman in earnest. Time enough, too, says you.
Ah, but IVe lived easy in the meantime; never denied
myself o' nothing heart desires, and slep' soft and ate
dainty all my days, but when at sea. And how did I
begin? Before the mast, like you!"

" Well," said the other, " but all the other money's
gone now, ain't it? You daren't show face in Bristol after
this."

" Why, where might you suppose it was?" asked Silver
derisively.

" At Bristol, in banks and places," answered his com-
panion.

" It were," said the cook; " it were when we weighed
anchor. But my old missis has it all by now. And the
* Spy-glass ' is sold, lease and goodwill and rigging;
and the old girl's off to meet me. I would tell you where,
for I trust you; but it 'ud make jealousy among the
mates."

" And can you trust your missis?" asked the other.

" Gentlemen erf fortune," returned the cook, " usually
trusts little among themselves, and right they are, you
may lay to it. But I have a way with me, I have. When
a mate brings a slip on his cable one as knows me, I
mean it won't be in the same world with old John.
There was some that was feared of Pew, and some that
was feared of Flint; but Flint his own self was feared
of me. Feared he was, and proud. They was the roughest
crew afloat, was Flint's; the devil himself would have
been feared to go to sea with them. Well, now, I tell you,
I'm not a boasting man, and you seen yourself how easy
I keep company; but when I was quartermaster, lambs

(D419) C2

74 TREASURE ISLAND

wasn't the word for Flint's old bi*wjers. Ah, you
may be sure of yourself in old John's ship/**

" Well, I tell you now/' replied the lad, " I didn't
half a quarter like the job till I had this talk with you,
John; but there's my hand on it now."

" And a brave lad you were, and smart too," answered
Silver, shaking hands so heartily that all the barrel shook,
" and a finer figurehead for a gentleman of fortune I
never clapped my eyes on." 4

By this time I had begun to understand the meaning
of their terms. By a " gentleman of fortune " they plainly
meant neither more nor less than a common pirate, and
the little scene that I had overheard was the last act
in the corruption of one of the honest hands perhaps
of the last one left aboard. But on this point I was soon
to be relieved, for, Silver giving a little whistle, a third
man strolled up and sat down by the party.

" Dick's square," said Silver.

" Oh, I know'd Dick was square," returned the voice
of the coxswain, Israel Hands. " He's no fool, is Dick."
And he turned his quid and spat. " But, look here,"
he went on, " here's what I want to know, Barbecue: how
long are we a-going to stand off and on like a blessed
bumboat? I've had a'most enough o'*Cap'n Smollett;
he's hazed me long enough, by thunder! I want to go
into that cabin, I do. I want their pickles and wines, and
that."

" Israel," said Silver, " your head ain't much account,
nor ever was. But you're able to hear, I reckon; least-
ways, your ears is big enough. Now, here's what I say:
you'll berth forward, and you'll live hard, and you'll
speak soft, and you'll keep sober, till I give the word;
and you may lay to that, my son."

" Well, I don't say no, do I?" growled the coxswain.
" What I say is, when? That's what I say."

THE SEA-gOOK 75

" When! by t^i^vers!" cried Silver. " Well, now,
if you want to know, I'll tell you when. The last moment
I can manage; and that's when. Here's a first-rate sea-
man, Cap'n Smollett, sails the blessed ship for us. Here's
this squire and doctor with a map and such I don't
know where it is, do I? No more do you, says you. Well,
then, I mean this squire and doctor shall find the stuff,
and help us to get it aboard, by the powers. Then we'll
see. If I was sure of you all, sons of double Dutchmen,
I'd have Cap'n Smollett navigate us half-way back again
before I struck."

" Why, we're all seamen aboard here, I should think,"
said the lad Dick.

" We're all foc's'le hands, you mean," snapped Silver.
" We can steer a course, but who's to set one? That's
what all you gentlemen split on, first and last. If I had
my way, I'd have Cap'n Smollett work us back into the
trades at least; then we'd have no blessed miscalculations
&nd a spoonful of water a day. But I know the sort you
are. I'll finish with 'em at the island, as soon's the blunt's
on board, and a pity it is. But you're never happy till
you're drunk. Split my sides, I've a sick heart to sail
with the likes of you!"

" Easy all, Lon^ John," cried Israel. " Who's a-crossin'
of you?"

" Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I
seen laid aboard? and how many brisk lads drying in the
sun at Execution Dock?" cried Silver, " and all for this
same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen
a thing or two at sea, I have. If you "would on'y lay your
course, and a p'int to windward, you would ride in
carriages, you would. But not you! I know you. You'll
have your mouthful of rum to-morrow, and go hang."

" Everybody know'd you was a kind of a chapling,
John; but there's others as could hand and steer as well

76 TREASyRE ISLAND

as you," said Israel. " They liked^Jwfcj^ fun, they did.
They wasn't so high and dry, nohow, biit took their
fling, like jolly companions every one."

" So?" says Silver. " Well, and where are they now?
Pew was of that sort, and he died a beggar-man. Flint was,
and he died of rum at Savannah. Ah, they was a sweet
crew, they was! on'y, where are they?"

" But/' asked Dick, " when we do lay 'em athwart,
what are we to do with 'em, anyhow?" *

" There's the man for me!" cried the cook, admiringly.
" That's what I call business. Well, what would you
think? Put 'em ashore like maroons? That would have
been England's way. Or cut 'em down like that much
pork? That would have been Flint's or Billy Bones's."

" Billy was the man for that," said Israel. " ' Dead
men don't bite,' says he. Well, he's dead now hisself;
he knows the long and short on it now; and if ever a
rough hand come to port, it was Billy."

" Right you are," said Silver, " rough and ready. But
mark you here: I'm an easy man I'm quite the gentle-
man, says you; but this time it's serious. Dooty is dooty,
mates. I give my vote death. When I'm in Parlyment,
and riding in my coach, I don't want none of these sea-
lawyers in the cabin a-coming home, unlocked for, like
the devil at prayers. Wait is what I say; but when the
time comes, why, let her rip!"

" John," cries the coxswain, " you're a man!"

" You'll say so, Israel, when you see," said Silver.
" Only one thing I claim I claim Trelawney. I'll wring
his calf's head off his body with these hands. Dick!"
he added, breaking off, " you just jump up, like a sweet
lad, and get me an apple, to wet my pipe like."

You may fancy the terror I was in! I should have
leaped out and run for it, if I had found the strength;
but my limbs and heart alike misgave me. I heard Dick

THE SEA-COOK 77

begin to rise, and^jgfi someofte seemingly stopped him,
and the voice of Hands exclaimed:

" Oh, stow that! Don't you get sucking of that bilge,
John. Let's have a go of the rum."

" Dick," said Silver, " I trust you. I've a gauge on
the keg, mind. There's the key; you fill a pannikin and
tiring it up."

Terrified as I was, I could not help thinking to myself
that this mtist have been how Mr. Arrow got the strong
waters that destroyed him.

Dick was gone but a little while, and during his absence
Israel spoke straight on in the cook's ear. It was but a
word or two that I could catch, and yet I gathered some
important news; for, besides other scraps that tended to
the same purpose, this whole clause was audible: " Not
another man of them '11 jine." Hence there were still
faithful men on board.

When Dick returned, one after another of the trio took
the pannikin and drank one " To luck "; another with
a " Here's to old Flint "; and Silver himself saying, in a
kind of song, " Here's to ourselves, and bold youf luff,
plenty of prizes and plenty of duff ".

Just then a sort of brightness fell upon me in the
barrel, and, looking up, I found the moon had risen,
and was silvering the mizzen-top and shining white on
the luff of the fore-sail; and almost at the same time
the voice of the look-out shouted " Land ho!"

78 TREASURE ISLAND

CHAPTER XII

COUNCIL OF WAR

There was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could
hear people tumbling up from the cabin and the foe Vie';
and, slipping in an instant outside my barrel, I dived
behind the fore-sail, made a double towards the stern,
and came out upon the open deck in time to join Hunter
and Dr. Livesey in the rush for the weather bow.

There all hands were already congregated,. A belt of
fog had lifted almost simultaneously with the appearance
of the moon. Away to the south-west of us we saw two
low hills, about a couple of miles apart, and rising behind
one of them a third and higher hill, whose peak was still
buried in the fog. All three seemed sharp and conical in
figure.

So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet-
recovered from my horrid fear of a minute or two before.
And ihen I heard the voice of Captain Smollett issuing
orders. The Hispaniola was laid a couple of points
nearer the wind, and now sailed a course that would
just clear the island on the east.

" And now, men," said the captain, when all was
sheeted home, " has any one of you ever seen that land
ahead?"

" I have, sir," said Silver. " Fve watered there with a
trader I was cook in."

" The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I
fancy?" asked the captain.

" Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a
main place for pirates once, and a hand we had on board
knowed all their names for it. That hill to the nor'ard
they calls the Fore-mast Hill; there are three hills in a

THE SEA-COOK 79

row running south*'$*;4 fore, rc^ 11 * an d mizzen, sir. But
the main that's the big 'un with the cloud on it they
usually calls the Spy-glass, by reason of a look-out they
kept when they was in the anchorage cleaning; for it's
there they cleaned their ships, sir, asking your pardon."

" 1 have a chart here," says Captain Smollett. " See
if'that's the place."

Long John's eyes burned in his head as he took the
chart; but, "by the fresh look of the paper, I knew he
was doomed to disappointment. This was not the map
we found in Billy Bones's chest, but an accurate copy,
complete in all things names and heights and soundings
with the single exception of the red crosses and the
written notes. Sharp as must have been his annoyance,
Silver had the strength of mind to hide it.

" Yes, sir," said he, " this is the spot, to be sure; and
very prettily drawed out. Who might have done that, I
wonder? The pirates were too ignorant, I reckon. Ay,
here it is: * Capt. Kidd's Anchorage ' just the name my
shipmate called it. There's a strong current runs along
the south, and then away nor'ard up the west coast.
Right you was, sir," says he, "to haul your wind and
keep the weather of the island. Leastways, if such was
your intention as to enter and careen, and there ain't no
better place for that in these waters."

" Thank you, my man," says Captain Smollett. " I'll
ask you, later on, to give us a help. You may go."

I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed
his knowledge of the island; and I own I was half-
frightened when I saw him drawing nearer to myself.
He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his
council from the apple barrel, and yet I had, by this
time, taken such a horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and
power, that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he
laid his hand upon my arm.

8o TREASURE ISLAND

<

Ah," says he, " this here is a s\neet spot, this island
sweet spot for a lad to get ashore on. You'll bathe,
and you'll climb trees, and you'll hunt goats, you will;
and you'll get aloft on them hills like a goat yourself.
Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget
my timber leg, I was. It's a pleasant thing to be young,
and have ten toes, and you may lay to that. When y6u
want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask old John, and
he'll put up a snack for you to take along/"

And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the
shoulder, he hobbled off forward, and went below.

Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were
talking together on the quarter-deck, and, anxious as I
was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt them
openly. While I was still casting about in my thoughts
to find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to
his side. He had left his pipe below, and, being a slave
to tobacco, had meant that I should fetch it; but as soon
as I was near enough to speak and not to be overheard,
I broke out immediately: " Doctor, let me speak. Get
the captain and squire down to the cabin, and then make
some pretence to send for me. I have terrible news."

The doctor changed countenance a little, but next
moment he was master of himself.

" Thank you, Jim," said he, quite loudly, " that was
all I wanted to know," as if he had asked me a question.

And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the
other two. They spoke together for a little, and though
none of them started, or raised his voice, or so much as
whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey had com-
municated my request; for the next thing that I heard
was the captain giving an order to Job Anderson, and all
hands were piped on deck.

" My lads," said Captain Smollett, " I've a word to
say to you. This land that we have sighted is the place

THE SEA ; COOK Si

we have been sailing; to. Mr*. Trelawney, being a very
open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just asked
me a word or two, and as I was able to tell him that
every man on board had done his duty, alow and aloft,
as I never ask to see it done better, why, he and I and
the doctor are going below to the cabin to drink your
tealth and luck, and you'll have grog served out for you
to drink our health and luck. Ill tell you what I think
of this: I ?hink it handsome. And if you think as I do,
you 11 give a good sea cheer for the gentleman that does
it."

The chear followed that was a matter of course; but
it rang out so full and hearty that I confess I could hardly
believe these same men were plotting for our blood.

" One more cheer for Cap'n Smollett," cried Long
John, when the first had subsided.

And this also was given with a will.

On the top of that the three gentlemen went below,
and not long after, word was sent forward that Jim
Hawkins was wanted in the cabin.

I found them all three seated round the table, ^bottle
of Spanish wine and some raisins before them, and the
doctor smoking away, with his wig on his lap, and that,
I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern window
was open, for it was a warm night, and you could see the
moon shining behind on the ship's wake.

" Now, Hawkins," said the squire, " you have some-
thing to say. Speak up."

I did as I was bid, and, as short as I could make it,
told the whole details of Silver's conversation. Nobody
interrupted me till I was done, nor did any one of the
three of them make so much as a movement, but they kept
their eyes upon my face from first to last.

" Jim," said Dr. Livesey, " take a seat."

And they made me sit down at table beside them,

82 TREASURE ISLAND

c

poured me out a glass of wine, filled my hands with
raisins, and all three, one after the other, and each with
a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for
my luck and courage.

" Now, captain/' said the squire, " you were right,
and I was wrong. I own myself an ass, and I await your
orders."

" No more an ass than I, sir/' returned the captain.
" I never heard of a crew that meant to mutiify but what
showed signs before, for any man that had an eye in
his head to see the mischief and take steps according.
But this crew," he added, " beats me." .

" Captain," said the doctor, " with your permission,
that's Silver. A very remarkable man."

" He'd look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir,"
returned the captain. " But this is talk; this don't lead
to anything. I see three or four points, and with Mr.
Trelawney's permission, I'll name them."

" You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak," says
Mr. Trelawney grandly.

" First point," began Mr. Smollett: " we must go on,
because we can't turn back. If I gave the word to go
about, they would rise at once. Second point: we have
time before us at least, until this treasure's found.
Third point: there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it's
got to come to blows sooner or later; and what I propose
is, to take time by the forelock, as the saying is, and
come to blows some fine day when they least expect it.
We can count, I take it, on your own home servants,
Mr. Trelawney?"

" As upon myself," declared the squire.

" Three," reckoned the captain, " ourselves make seven,
counting Hawkins, here. Now, about the honest
hands?"

" Most likely Trelawney's own men," said the doctor;

THE SEA-COOK 83

" those he had picked^ up for himself, before he lit on
Silver."

" Nay/' replied the squire, " Hands was one of mine."

" I did think I could have trusted Hands," added the
captain.

" And to think that they're all Englishmen!" broke
out the squire. " Sir, I could find it in my heart to blow
the ship up."

" Well, gentlemen," said the captain, " the best that
I can say is not much. We must lay-to, if you please,
and keep a bright look-out. It's trying on a man, I know.
It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But there's no
help for it till we know our men. Lay-to, and whistle
for a wind, that's my view."

" Jim here," said the doctor, " can help us more than
anyone. The men are not shy with him, and Jim is a
noticing lad."

" Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you," added the
squire.

I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt alto-
gether helpless; and yet, by an odd train of circumstances,
it was indeed through me that safety came. In the mean-
time, talk as we pleased, there were only seven out of
the twenty-six on*whom we knew we could rely; and out
of these seven one was a boy, so that the grown men on
our side were six to their nineteen.

Part III My Shore Adventure

CHAPTER XIII

HOW I BEGAN MY SHORE ADVENTURE

The appearance of the island when I came on deck
next morning was altogether changed. Although the
breeze had now utterly failed, we had made a great deal
of way during the night, and were now lying becalmed
about half a mile to the south-east of the low eastern coast.
Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the surface.
This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow
sandbreak in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of
the pine family, out-topping the others some singly,
some in clumps; but the general colouring was uniform
and sad. The hills ran up clear above^the vegetation in
spires of naked rock. All were strangely shaped, and the
Spy-glass, which was by three or four hundred feet the
tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in configu-
ration, running up sheer from almost every side, and then
suddenly cut off at the top like a pedestal to put a statue
on.

The Hispaniola was rolling scuppers under in the ocean
swell. The booms were tearing at the blocks, the rudder
was banging to and fro, and the whole ship creaking,
groaning, and jumping like a manufactory. I had to
cling tight to the backstay, and the world turned giddily

84

MY SHORE ADVENTURE 85

before my eyes; for though I was a good enough sailor
when there was way on, this standing still and being rolled
about like a bottle was a thing I never learned to stand
without a qualm or so, above all in the morning, on an
empty stomach.

Perhaps it was this perhaps it was the look of the
island, with its grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone
spires, and the surf that we could both see and hear
foaming and thundering on the steep beach at least,
although the sun shone bright and hot, and the shore-
birds were fishing and crying all around us, and you
would have thought anyone would have been glad to get
to land after being so long at sea, my heart sank, as the
saying is, into my boots; and from that first look onward
I hated the very thought of Treasure Island.

We had a dreary morning's work before us, for there
was no sign of any wind, and the boats had to be got
out and manned, and the ship warped three or four
miles round the corner of the island, and up the narrow
passage to the haven behind Skeleton Island. I volun-
teered for one of the boats, where I had, of course, no
business. The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled
fiercely over their work. Anderson was in command of
my boat, and instead of keeping the crew in order, he
grumbled as loud as the worst.

" Well," he said, with an oath, " it's not for ever."

I thought this was a very bad sign; for, up to that
day, the men had gone briskly and willingly about their
business; but the very sight of the island had relaxed
the cords of discipline.

All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and
conned the ship. He knew the passage like the palm of
his hand; and though the man in the chains got every-
where more water than was down in the chart, John never
hesitated once.

86 TREASURE ISLAND

" There's a strong scow with the ebb," he said, " and
this here passage has been dug out, in a manner of speak-
ing, with a spade."

We brought up just where the anchor was in the chart,
about a third of a mile from either shore, the mainland
on one side, and Skeleton Island on the other. The
bottom was clean sand. The plunge of our anchor sent
up clouds of birds wheeling and crying over the woods;
but in less than a minute they were down ajjain, and all
was once more silent.

The place was entirely land-locked, buried in woods,
the trees coming right down to high-watar mark, the
shores mostly flat, and the hill-tops standing round at a
distance in a sort of amphitheatre, one here, one there.
Two little rivers, or, rather, two swamps, emptied out
into this pond, as you might call it; and the foliage round
that part of the shore had a kind of poisonous brightness.
From the ship we could see nothing of the house or
stockade, for they were quite buried among trees; and
if it had not been for the chart on the companion, we
might have been the first that had ever anchored there
since the island arose out of the seas.

There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound
but that of the surf booming half a mife away along the
beaches and against the rocks outside. A peculiar stag-
nant smell hung over the anchorage a smell of sodden
leaves and rotting tree trunks. I observed the doctor
sniffing and sniffing, like someone tasting a bad egg.

" I don't know about treasure," he said, " but I'll
stake my wig there's fever here."

If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the
boat, it became truly threatening when they had come
aboard. They lay about the deck growling together in
talk. The slightest order was received with a black look,
and grudgingly and carelessly obeyed. Even the honest

MY SHORE ADVENTURE 87

hands must have caught the infection, for there was not
one man aboard to mend another. Mutiny, it was plain,
hung over us like a thunder-cloud.

And it was not only we of the cabin party who per-
ceived the danger. Long John was hard at work going
from group to group, spending himself in good advice,
ancl as for example no man could have shown a better.
He fairly outstripped himself in willingness and civility;
he was all stfiiles to everyone. If an order were given,
John would be on his crutch in an instant, with the cheeriest
" Ay, ay, sir!" in the world; and when there was nothing
else to do, he kept up one song after another, as if to
conceal the discontent of the rest.

Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon,
this obvious anxiety on the part of Long John appeared
the worst.

We held a council in the cabin.

" Sir," said the captain, " if I risk another order, the
whole ship '11 come about our ears by the run. You see,
sir, here it is. I get a rough answer, do I not? Well, if
I speak back, pikes will be going in two shakes; if I don't,
Silver will see there's something under that, and the
game's up. Now, we've only one man to rely on."

" And who is that?" asked the squire.

" Silver, sir," returned the captain; " he's as anxious
as you and I to smother things up. This is a tiff; he'd
soon talk 'em out of it if he had the chance, and what
I propose to do is to give him the chance. Let's allow
the men an afternoon ashore. If they all go, why, we'll
fight the ship. If they none of them go well, then, we
hold the cabin, and God defend the right. If some go,
you mark my words, sir, Silver'll bring 'em aboard again
as mild as lambs."

It was so decided; loaded pistols were served out to
all the sure men; Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken

88 TREASURE ISLAND

into our confidence, and received the news with less
surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for, and
then the captain went on deck and addressed the crew.

" My lads/' said he, " we've had a hot day, and are
all tired and out of sorts. A turn ashore'll hurt nobody
the boats are still in the water; you can take the gigs,
and as many as please can go ashore for the afternoon.
I'll fire a gun half an hour before sundown."

I believe the silly fellows must have thought they would
break their shins over treasure as soon as they were landed;
for they all came out of their sulks in a moment, and gave
a cheer that started the echo in a far-away*hill, and sent
the birds once more flying and squalling round the
anchorage.

The captain was too bright to be in the way. He
whipped out of sight in a moment, leaving Silver to
arrange the party; and I fancy it w ^s as well he did so.
Had he been on deck he could no longer so much as
have pretended not to understand the situation. It was
as plain as day. Silver was the captain, and a mighty
rebellious crew he had of it. The honest hands and I
was soon to see it proved that there were such on board
must have been very stupid fellows. Or, rather, I
suppose the truth was this, that all hands were disaffected
by the example of the ringleaders only some more,
some less; and a few, being good fellows in the main,
could neither be led nor driven any further. It is one
thing to be idle and skulk, and quite another to take a
ship and murder a number of innocent men.

At last, however, the party was made up. Six fellows
were to stay on board, and the remaining thirteen, includ-
ing Silver, began to embark.

Then it was that there came into my head the first
of the mad notions that contributed so much to save our
lives. If six men were left by Silver, it was plain our party

MY SHORE ADVENTURE 89

could not take and fight the ship; and since only six
were left, it was equally plain that the cabin party had
no present need of my assistance. It occurred to me at
once to go ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped over the side,
and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and
almost at the same moment she shoved off.

"No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying,
" Is that you, Jim? Keep your head down." But Silver,
from the otffer boat, looked sharply over and called out
to know if that were me; and from that moment I began
to regret what I had done.

The crews* raced for the beach; but the boat I was in,
having some start, and being at once the lighter and the
better manned, shot far ahead of her consort, and the
bow had struck among the shore-side trees, and I had
caught a branch and swung myself out, and plunged into
the nearest thicket, while Silver and the rest were still
a hundred yards behind.
- " Jim, Jim!" I heard him shouting.

But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, duck-
ing, and breaking through, I ran straight before mynose,
till I could run no longer.

CHAPTER XIV

THE FIRST BLOW

I was so pleased at having given the slip to Long John,
that I began to enjoy myself and look around me with
some interest on the strange land that I was in.

I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes,
and odd, outlandish, swampy trees; and I had now come
out upon the skirts of an open piece of undulating, sandy

go TREASURE ISLAND

country, about a mile lofig, dotted with a few pines, and
a great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak
in growth, but pale in the foliage, like willows. On the
far side of the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint,
craggy peaks, shining vividly in the sun.

I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration.
The isle was uninhabited; my shipmates I had left behirfd,
and nothing lived in front of me but dumb brutes and
fowls. I turned hither and thither among thS trees. Here
and there were flowering plants, unknown to me; here
and there I saw snakes, and one raised his head from
a ledge of rock and hissed at me with a noise not unlike
the spinning of a top. Little did I suppose that he was
a deadly enemy, and that the noise was the famous rattle.

Then I came to a long thicket of these oak-like trees
live, or evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they should
be called which grew low along the sand like brambles,
the boughs curiously twisted, the foliage compact, like
thatch. The thicket stretched down from the top of one
of the sandy knolls, spreading and growing taller as it
wenty until it reached the margin of the broad, reedy
fen, through which the nearest of the little rivers soaked
its way into the anchorage. The marsh was steaming
in the strong sun, and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled
through the haze.

All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among
the bulrushes; a wild duck flew up with a quack, another
followed, and soon over the whole surface of the marsh
a great cloud of birds hung screaming and circling in the
air. I judged at once that some of my shipmates must
be drawing near along the borders of the fen. Nor was
[ deceived; for soon I heard the very distant and low
tones of a human voice, which, as I continued to give
sar, grew steadily louder and nearer.

This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under

MY SHORE ADVENTURE 91

cover of the nearest live oak, andsquatted there, hearken-
ing, as silent as a mouse.

Another voice answered; and then the first voice,
which I now recognized to be Silver's, once more took
up the story, and ran on for a long while in a stream, only
now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound
they must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely;
but no distinct word came to my hearing.

At last the Speakers seemed to have paused, and perhaps
to have sat down; for not only did they cease to draw
any nearer, but the birds themselves began to grow more
quiet, and to settle again to their places in the swamp.

And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my
business; that since I had been so foolhardy as to come
ashore with these desperadoes, the least I could do was
to overhear them at their councils; and that my plain
and obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage,
under the favourable ambush of the crouching trees.

1 could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly,
not only by the sound of their voices, but by the behaviour
of the few birds that still hung in alarm above the hteads
of the intruders.

Crawling on all-fours, I made steadily but slowly to-
wards them; till at last, raising my head to an aperture
among the leaves, I could see clear down into a little
green dell beside the marsh, and closely set about with
trees, where Long John Silver and another of the crew
stood face to face in conversation.

The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his
hat beside him on the ground, and his great, smooth,
blonde face, all shining with heat, was lifted to the other
man's in a kind of appeal.

" Mate," he was saying, " it's because I thinks gold
dust of you gold dust, and you may lay to that! If I
hadn't took to you like pitch, do vou think I'd have been

92 TREASURE ISLAND

here a-warning of you?f All's up you can't make nor
mend; it's to save your neck tfrat I'm a-speaking, and
if one of the wild 'uns knew it, where 'ud I be, Tom
now, tell me, where 'ud I be?"

" Silver," said the other man and I observed he was
not only red in the face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow,
and his voice shook, too, like a taut rope " Silver,"
says he, " you're old, and you're honest, or has the name
for it; and you've money, too, which lots of poor sailors
hasn't; and you're brave, or I'm mistook. And will you
tell me you'll let yourself be led away with that kind of a
mess of swabs? not you! As sure as Gocjl sees me, I'd
sooner lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty "

And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a
noise. I had found one of the honest hands well, here,
at that same moment, came news of another. Far away
out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound
like the cry of anger, then another on the back of it;
and then one horrid, long-drawn scream. The rocks
of the Spy-glass re-echoed it a score of times; the whole
troop of marsh-birds rose again, darkening heaven, with
a simultaneous whirr; and long after that death -yell was
still ringing in my brain silence had re-established its
empire, and only the rustle of the redescending birds and
the boom of the distant surges disturbed the languor of
the afternoon.

Tom had leaped at the sound, like a horse at the spur;
but Silver had not winked an eye. He stood where he
was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching his companion
like a snake about to spring.

" John!" said the sailor, stretching out his hand.

" Hands off !" cried Silver, leaping back a yard, as it
seemed to me, with the speed and security of a trained
gymnast.

" Hands off, if you like, John Silver," said the other.

MY SHORE ADVENTURE 93

" It's a black conscience that .can make you feared of
me. But, in heaven's rfame, tell me what was that?"

" That?" returned Silver, smiling away, but warier
than ever, his eye a mere pin-point in his big face, but
gleaming like a crumb of glass. " That.' Oh, I reckon
that'll be Alan."

*And at this poor Tom flashed out like a hero.

"Alan!" he cried. "Then rest his soul for a true
seaman! And as for you, John Silver, long you've been
a mate of mine, but you're mate of mine no more. If I
die like a dog, I'll die in my dooty. You've killed Alan,
have you? Kill me, too, if you can. But I defies you."

And with that this brave fellow turned his back directly
on the cook, and set off walking for the beach. But he
was not destined to go far. With a cry, John seized the
branch of a tree, whipped the crutch out of his arm-pit,
and sent that uncouth missile hurtling through the air.
It struck poor Tom, point foremost, and with stunning
violence, right between the shoulders in the middle of
his back. His hands flew up, he gave a sort of gasp, and
fell.

Whether he were injured much or little, none could
ever tell. Like enough, to judge from the sound, his
back was broken ,en the spot. But he had no time given
him to recover. Silver, agile as a monkey, even without
leg or crutch, was on the top of him next moment, and
had twice buried his knife up to the hilt in that defence-
less body. From my place of ambush I could hear him
pant aloud as he struck the blows.

I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know
that for the next little while the whole world swam away
from before me in a whirling mist; Silver and the birds,
and the tall Spy-glass hill-top, going round and round
and topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells
ringing and distant voices shouting in my ear.

94 TREASURE ISLAND

When I came again to myself, the monster had pulled
himself together, his crutch unde'r his arm, his hat upon
his head. Just before him Tom lay motionless upon the
sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, cleansing
his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp of grass.
Everything else was unchanged, the sun still shining merci-
lessly on the steaming marsh and the tall pinnacle of Ihe
mountain, and I could scarce persuade myself that murder
had been actually done, and a human liie cruelly cut
short, a moment since, before my eyes.

But now John put his hand into his pocket, brought
out a whistle, and blew upon it several modulated blasts,
that rang far across the heated air. I could not tell, of
course, the meaning of the signal; but it instantly awoke
my fears. More men Would be coming. I might be dis-
covered. They had already slain two of the honest people;
after Tom and Alan, might not I come next?

Instantly I began to extricate myself and crawl back
again with what speed and silence I could manage, to
the more open portion of the wood. As I did so, I could
hear* hails coming and going between the old buccaneer
and his comrades, and this sound of danger lent me wings.
As soon as I was clear of the thicket, I ran as I never ran
before, scarce minding the direction o my flight, so long
as it led me from the murderers; and as I ran, fear grew
and grew upon me, until it turned into a kind of frenzy.

Indeed, could anyone be more entirely lost than I?
When the gun fired, how should I dare to go down to
the boats among those fiends, still smoking from their
crime? Would not the first of them who saw me wring
my neck like a snipe's? Would not my absence itself
be an evidence to them of my alarm, and therefore of
my fatal knowledge? It was all over, I thought. Good-
bye to the Hispaniola\ good-bye to the squire, the doctor,
and the captain! There was nothing left for me but

MY SHORE ADVENTURE 95

death by starvation, or death by titte hands of the mutineers.

All this while, as I say, I was still running, and, without
taking any notice, I had drawn near to the foot of the
little hill with the two peaks, and had got into a part of
the island where the live oaks grew more widely apart,
and seemed more like forest trees in their bearing and
dimensions. Mingled with these were a few scattered
pines, some fifty, some nearer seventy, feet high. The
air, too, smeK*more freshly than down beside the marsh.

And here a fresh alarm brought me to a standstill with
a thumping heart.

CHAPTER XV

THE MAN OF THE ISLAND

From the side of the hill, which was here steep and
stony, a spout of gravel was dislodged, and fell rattling
and bounding through the trees. My eyes turned in-
stinctively in that direction, and I saw a figure leap Vith
great rapidity behind the trunk of a pine. What it was,
whether bear or man or monkey, I could in no wise tell.
It seemed dark an<i shaggy; more I knew not. But the
terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand.

I was now, it seemed, cut off upon both sides; behind
me the murderers, before me this lurking nondescript.
And immediately I began to prefer the dangers that I
knew to those I knew not. Silver himself appeared less
terrible in contrast with this creature of the woods, and
I turned on my heel, and, looking sharply behind me
over my shoulder, began to retrace my steps in the
direction of the boats.

Instantly the figure reappeared, and, making a wide
circuit, began to head me off. I was tired, at any rate;

96 TREASURE ISLAND

but had I been as fresh as when I rose, I could see it
was in vain for me to contend in speed with such an
adversary. From trunk to trunk the creature flitted like
a deer, running man-like on two legs, but unlike any
man that I had ever seen, stooping almost double as it
ran. Yet a man it was; I could no longer be in doubt
about that.

I began to recall what I had heard of cannibals. I
was within an ace of calling for help. But* the mere fact
that he was a man, however wild, had somewhat reassured
me, and my fear of Silver began to revive in proportion.
I stood still, therefore, and cast about for*'some method
of escape; and as I was so thinking, the recollection of
my pistol flashed into my mind. As soon as I remembered
I was not defenceless, courage glowed again in my heart;
and I set my face resolutely for this man of the island,
and walked briskly towards him.

He was concealed by this time behind another tree
trunk; but he must have been watching me closely, for
as soon as I began to move in his direction he reappeared
and'took a step to meet me. Then he hesitated, drew back,
came forward again, and at last, to my wonder and con-
fusion, threw himself on his knees and held out his
clasped hands in supplication.

At that I once more stopped.

" Who are you?" I asked.

" Ben Gunn," he answered, and his voice sounded
hoarse and awkward, like a rusty lock. " I'm poor Ben
Gunn, I am; and I haven't spoke with a Christian these
three years."

I could now see that he was a white man like myself,
and that his features were even pleasing. His skin, wher-
ever it was exposed, was burnt by the sun; even his lips
were black; and his fair eyes looked quite Startling in
so dark a face. Of all the beggar-men that I had seen

MY bHXJKfc AiJ^lilN lUKii 97

or fancied, he was the chief fcr raggedness. He was
clothed with tatters of* old ship's canvas and old sea
cloth; and this extraordinary patchwork was all held
together by a system of the most various and incongruous
fastenings brass buttons, bits of stick, and loops of tarry
gaskin. About his waist he wore an old brass-buckled
leather belt, which was the one thing solid in his whole
accoutrement.

" Three ye&-s!" I cried. " Were you shipwrecked?"

" Nay, mate," said he " marooned."

I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible
kind of punishment common enough among the buc-
caneers, in which the offender is put ashore with a little
powder and shot, and left behind on some desolate and
distant island.

" Marooned three years agone," he continued, " and
lived on goats since then, and berries, and oysters. Wher-
ever a man is, says I, a man can do for himself. But, mate,
my heart is sore for Christian diet. You mightn't happen
to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well,
many's the long night Fve dreamed of cheese toasted,
mostly and woke up again, and here I were."

" If ever I can get aboard again," said I, " you shall
have cheese by ths stone."

All this time he had been feeling the stuff of my jacket,
smoothing my hands, looking at my boots, and generally,
in the intervals of his speech, showing a childish pleasure
in the presence of a fellow-creature. But at my last words
he perked up into a kind of startled slyness.,

" If ever you can get aboard again, says you?" he
repeated. " Why, now, who's to hinder you?"

" Not you, I know," was my reply.

" And right you was," he cried. " Now you what do
you call yourself, mate?"

" Jim," I told him.

98 TREASURE ISLAND

" Jim, Jim," says he, quite pleased, apparently. " Well,
now, Jim, I've lived that rough as you'd be ashamed to
hear of. Now, for instance, you wouldn't think I had had
a pious mother to look at me?" he asked.

" Why, no not in particular," I answered.

" Ah, weH," said he, " but I had remarkable pious.
And I was a civil, pious boy, and could rattle off my
catechism that fast as you couldn't tell one word from
another. And here's what it come to, JimJ and it begun
with chuck-farthen on the blessed grave-stones! That's
what it began with, but it went further'n that; and so
my mother told me, and predicked the wkole, she did,
the pious women! But it were Providence that put me
here. I've thought it all out in this here lonely island,
and I'm back on piety. You don't catch me tasting rum
so much; but just a thimbleful for luck, of course, the
first chance I have. I'm bound I'll be good, and I see
the way to. And, Jim " looking all round him, and
lowering his voice to a whisper " I'm rich."

I now felt sure that the poor fellow had gone crazy
in his solitude, and I suppose I must have shown
the feeling in my face; for he repeated the statement
hotly:

" Rich! rich! I says. And I'll tell y3U what: I'll make
a man of you, Jim. Ah, Jim, you'll bless your stars,
you will, you was the first that found me!"

And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow
over his face, and he tightened his grasp upon my
hand, and raised a forefinger threateningly before my
eyes.

" Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain't Flint's ship?"
he asked.

At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to be-
lieve that I had found an ally, and I answered him
at once.

MY SHORE AI^VENTURE ^9

" It's not Flint's ship, and Fiint is dead; but I'll tell
you true, as you ask me there are some of Flint's hands
aboard; worse luck for the rest of us."

" Not a man with one leg?" he gasped.

" Silver?" I asked.

" Ah, Silver!" says he; " that were his name."

4< He's the cook; and the ringleader, too."

He was still holding me by the wrist, and at that he
gave it quite & wring.

" If you was sent by Long John," he said, " I'm as
good as pork, and I know it. But where was you, do you
suppose?" %

I had made my mind up in a moment, and by way of
answer told him the whole story of our voyage, and the
predicament in which we found ourselves. He heard me
with the keenest interest, and when I had done he patted
me on the head.

" You're a good lad, Jim," he said; " and you're all
ic a clove hitch, ain't you? Well, you just put your trust
in Ben Gunn Ben Gunn's the man to do it. Would
you think it likely, now, that your squire would p*ove a
liberal-minded one in case of help him being in a clove
hitch, as you remark?"

I told him the *quire was the most liberal of men.

" Ay, but you see," returned Ben Gunn, " I didn t
mean giving me a gate to keep, and a shuit of livery clothes,
and such; that's not my mark, Jim. What I mean is,
would he be likely to come down to the toon of, say one
thousand pounds out of money that's as good as a man's
own already?"

" I am sure he would," said I. " As it was, all hands
were to share."

" And a passage home?" he added, with a look of
great shrewdness.

" Why," I cried, " the squire's a gentleman. And,

ioo TREASURE ISLAND

besides, if we got rid of 4he others, we should want you
to help work the vessel home."

" Ah," said he, " so you would." And he seemed very
much relieved.

" Now, I'll tell you what," he went on. " So much
I'll tell you, and no more. I were in Flint's ship when
he buried the treasure; he and six along six strong
seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us stand-
ing off and on in the old Walrus. One fine c day up went
the signal, and here come Flint by himself in a little boat,
and his head done up in a blue scarf. The sun was getting
up, and mortal white he looked about tke cutwater.
But, there he was, you mind, and the six all dead dead
and buried. How he done it not a man aboard us could
make out. It was battle, murder, and sudden death,
leastways him against six. Billy Bones was the mate;
Long John he was quartermaster; and they asked him
where the treasure was. * Ah/ says he, ' you can go ashore,
if you like, and stay,' he says; ' but as for the ship, she'll
beat up for more, by thunder!' That's what he said.

" Well, I was in another ship three years back, and
we sighted this island. * Boys,' said I, ' here's Flint's
treasure; let's land and find it.' The cap'n was displeased
at that; but my messmates were all of a oiind, and landed.
Twelve days they looked for it, and every day they had
the worse word for me, until one fijne morning all hands
went aboard. * As for you, Benjamin Gunn,' says they,
* here's a musket,' they says, ' and a spade, and pickaxe.
You can stay here and find Flint's money for yourself/
they says.

" Weil, Jim, three years have I been here, and not a
bite of Christian diet from that day to this. But now,
you look here; look at me. Do I look like a man before
the mast? No, says you. Nor I weren't neither; I says."

And with that he winked and pinched me hard.

MY SHORE ADVENTURE 101

" Just you mention them words to your squire, Jim,"
he went on. " Nor he weren't, neither that's the words.
Three years he were the man of this island, light and
dark, fair and rain; and sometimes he would, maybe,
think upon a prayer (says you), and sometimes he would,
maybe, think of his old mother, so be as she's alive
(y oft '11 say); but the most part of Gunn's time (this is
what you'll say) the most part of his time was took
up with anotiler matter. And then you'll give him a
nip, like I do."

And he pinched me again in the most confidential
manner. *

" Then," he continued " then you'll up, and you'll
say this: Gunn is a good man (you'll say), and he puts
a precious sight more confidence a precious sight, mind
that in a gen'leman born than in these gen'lemen of
fortune, having been one hisself."

" Well," I said, " I don't understand one word that
you've been saying. But that's neither here nor there;
for how am I to get on board?"

" Ah," said he, " that's the hitch, for sure. Well,
there's my boat, that I made with my two hands. I keep
her under the white rock. If the worst come to the worst,
we might try that after dark. Hi!" he broke out, " what's
that?"

For just then, although the sun had still an hour or
two to run, all the echoes of the island awoke and bellowed
to the thunder of a cannon.

" They have begun to fight!" I cried. " Follow me."

And I began to run towards the anchorage, my terrors
all forgotten; while, close at my side, the marooned man
in his goatskins trotted easily and lightly.

" Left, left," says he; " keep to your left hand, mate
Jim! Under the trees with you! Theer's where I killed
my first goat. They don't come down here now; they're

102 TREASURE ISLAND

all mast-headed on them mountings for the fear of Ben-
jamin Gunn. Ah! and there's the cetemery " cemetery,
he must have meant. " You see the mounds? I come
here and prayed, nows and thens, when I thought maybe
a Sunday would be about doo. It weren't quite a chapel,
but it seemed more solemn like; and then, says you,
Ben Gunn was short-handed no chapling, nor so mtich
as a Bible and a flag, you says."

So he kept talking as I ran, neither 'expecting nor
receiving any answer.

The cannon-shot was followed, after a considerable
interval, by a volley of small arms. <

Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in
front of me, I beheld the Union Jack flutter in the air
above a wood.

Part IV The Stockade

CHAPTER XVI

NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: HOW THE
SHIP WAS ABANDONED

It was about half-past one three bells in the sea phrase
that the two boats went ashore from the Hispaniola.
The captain, the squire, and I were talking matters over
in- the cabin. Had there been a breath of wind we should
have fallen on the six mutineers who were left aboard
with us, slipped our cable, and away to sea. But theVind
was wanting; and, to complete our helplessness, down
came Hunter with the news that Jim Hawkins had
slipped into a boattand was gone ashore with the rest.

It never occurred to us to doubt Jim Hawkins; but
we were alarmed for his safety. With the men in the
temper they were in, it seemed an even chance if we
should see the lad again. We ran on deck. The pitch
was bubbling in the seams; the nasty stench of the place
turned me sick; if ever a man smelt fever and dysentery,
it was in that abominable anchorage. The six scoundrels
were sitting grumbling under a sail in the forecastle;
ashore we could see the gigs made fast, and a man sitting
in each, hterd by where the river runs in. One of them
was whistling " Lillibullero ".

103

io 4 TREASURE ISLAND

Waiting was a strain; .and it was decided that Hunter
and I should go ashore with the jolly-boat, in quest of
information.

The gigs had leaned to their right; but Hunter and I
pulled straight in, in the direction of the stockade upon
the chart. The two who were left guarding their boats
seemed in a bustle at our appearance; " Lillibullefo "
stopped off, and I could see the pair discussing what they
ought to do. Had they gone and told Silver, all might
have turned out differently; but they had their orders,
I suppose, and decided to sit quietly where they were
and hark back again to " Lillibullero ". <

There was a slight bend in the coast, and I steered
so as to put it between us; even before we landed we had
thus lost sight of the gigs. I jumped out, and came as
near running as I durst, with a big silk handkerchief
under my hat for coolness' sake, and a brace of pistols
ready primed for safety.

I had not gone a hundred yards when I came on the
stockade.

This was how it was: a spring of clear water rose almost
at the top of a knoll. Well, on the knoll, and enclosing
the spring, they had clapped a stout log-house, fit to hold
two score people on a pinch, and loopfaoled for musketry
on every side. All round this they had cleared a wide
space, and then the thing was completed by a paling six
feet high, without door or opening, too strong to pull
down without time and labour, and too open to shelter
the besiegers. The people in the log-house had them
in every way; they stood quiet in shelter and shot the
others like partridges. All they wanted was a good
watch and food; for, short of a complete surprise, they
might have held the place against a regiment.

What particularly took my fancy was the spring. For,
though we had a good enough place of it in the cabin of

THE STOGKADE I05

the Hispaniola, with plenty of arms and ammunition, and
things to eat, and excellent wines, there had been one
thing overlooked we had no water. I was thinking this
over, when there came ringing over the island the cry of a
man at the point of death. I was not new to violent death
I have served His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumber-
land, and got a wound myself at Fontenoy but I know
my pulse went dot and carry one. " Jim Hawkins is
gone " was rriy first thought.

It is something to have been an old soldier, but more
still to have been a doctor. There is no time to dilly-
dally in our*\vork. And so now I made up my mind in-
stantly, and with no time lost returned to the shore, and
jumped on board the jolly-boat.

By good fortune Hunter pulled a good oar. We
made the water fly; and the boat was soon alongside, and
I aboard the schooner.

I found them all shaken, as was natural. The squire
was sitting down, as white as a sheet, thinking of the
harm he had led us to, the good soul! and one of the six
forecastle hands was little better. *

" There's a man/' says Captain Smollett, nodding
towards him, " new to this work. He came nigh-hand
fainting, doctor, when he heard the cry. Another touch
of the rudder and that man would join us."

I told my plan to the captain, and between us we settled
on the details of its accomplishment.

We put old Redruth in the gallery between the cabin
and the forecastle, with three or four loaded muskets and
a mattress for protection. Hunter brought the boat
round under the stern-port, and Joyce and I set to work
loading her with powder tins, muskets, bags of biscuits,
kegs of pork, a cask of cognac, and my invaluable medicine-
chest. *

In the meantime the squire and the captain stayed on

(D419) D2

io6 TREASURE ISLAND

deck, and the latter hailed the coxswain, who was the
principal man aboard.

" Mr. Hands," he said, " here are two of us with a
brace of pistols each. If any one of you six make a signal
of any description, that man's dead."

They were a good deal taken aback; and, after a little
consultation, one and all tumbled down the fore com-
panion, thinking, no doubt, to take us on the rear. But
when they saw Redruth waiting for them in the sparred
gallery, they went about-ship at once, and a head popped
out again on deck.

" Down, dog!" cries the captain. '

And the head popped back again; and we heard no
more, for the time, of these six very faint-hearted seamen.

By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had
the jolly-boat loaded as much as we dared. Joyce and I
got out through the stern-port, and we made for shore
again as fast as oars could take us.

This second trip fairly aroused the watchers along
shore. " Lillibullero " was dropped again; and just
befor*e we lost sight of them behind the little point, one
of them whipped ashore and disappeared. I had half a
mind to change my plan and destroy their boats, but I
feared that Silver and the others migfo be close at hand,
and all might very well be lost by trying for too much.

We had soon touched land in the same place as before,
and set to provision the block-house. All three made the
first journey, heavily laden, and tossed our stores over the
palisade. Then, leaving Joyce to guard them one man,
to be sure, but with half a dozen muskets Hunter and I
returned to the jolly-boat, and loaded ourselves once more.
So we proceeded without pausing to take breath, till the
whole cargo was bestowed, when the two servants took up
their positions in the block-house, and I, with all my power,
sculled back to the Hispaniola.

THE STOCKADE 107

That we should have risked a second boat-load seems
more daring than it really was. They had the advantage
of numbers, of course, but we had the advantage of arms.
Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before they
could get within range for pistol shooting, we flattered
ourselves we should be able to give a good account of a
half-dozen at least.

The squire was waiting for me at the stern window,
all his faintncss gone from him. He caught the painter
and made it fast, and we fell to loading the boat for our
very lives. Pork, powder, and biscuit was the cargo,
with only a Tausket and a cutlass apiece for the squire and
me and Redruth and the captain. The rest of the arms
and powder we dropped overboard in two fathoms and
a half of water, so that we could see the bright steel
shining far below us in the sun, on the clean sandy bottom.

By this time the tide was beginning to ebb, and the
ship was swinging round to her anchor. Voices were
heard faintly halloaing in the direction of the two gigs;
and though this reassured us for Joyce and Hunter, who
were well to the eastward, it warned our party to b^off.

Redruth retreated from his place in the gallery, and
dropped into the boat, which we then brought round to
the ship's counter^ to be handier for Captain Smollett.

" Now, men/' said he, " do you hear me?"

There was no answer from the forecastle.

" It's to you, Abraham Gray it's to you I am speak-
ing."

Still no reply.

" Gray," resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, " I am
leaving this ship, and I order you to follow your captain.
I know you are a good man at bottom, and I dare say not
one of the lot of you's as bad as he makes out. I have
my watch here in my hand; I give you thirty seconds to
join me in."

io8 TREASURE ISLAND

There was a pause. *

" Come, my fine fellow/' continued the captain,
" don't hang so long in stays. I'm risking my life, and
the lives of these good gentlemen, every second."

There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out
burst Abraham Gray with a knife-cut on the side of the
cheek, and came running to the captain, like a dog to'the
whistle.

" I'm with you, sir," said he.

And the next moment he and the captain had dropped
aboard of us, and we had shoved off and given
way. '

We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in our
stockade.

CHAPTER XVII

NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: THE

JOLLY-BOAT'S LAST TRIP

.

This fifth trip was quite different from any of the
others. In the first place, the little gallipot of a boat that
we were in was gravely overloaded. t Five grown men,
and three of them Trelawney, Redruth, and the captain
over six feet high, was already more than she was meant
to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, and bread-
bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. Several times
we shipped a little water, and my breeches and the tails
of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone a
hundred yards.

The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to
lie a little more evenly. All the same, we were afraid to
breathe.

In the second place, the ebb was now making a

THE STOCKADE 109

strong rippling current running westward through the
basin, and then south 'ard and seaward down the straits
by which we had entered in the morning. Even the
ripples were a danger to our overloaded craft; but the
worst of it was that we were swept out of our true course,
and away from our proper landing-place behind the point.
If \ve let the current have its way we should come ashore
beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear at any
moment.

" I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir/' said
I to the captain. I was steering, while he and Redruth,
two fresh "inen, were at the oars. " The tide keeps
washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?"

" Not without swamping the boat," said he. " You
must bear up, sir, if you please bear up until you see
you're gaining."

I tried, and found by experiment that the tide kept
sweeping us westward until I had laid her head due east,
or just about right angles to the way we ought to go.

" We'll never get ashore at this rate," said I.

" If it's the only course that we can lie, sir, wt must
even lie it," returned the captain. " We must keep up-
stream. You see, sir," he went on, " if once we dropped
to leeward of th<* landing-place, it's hard to say where
we should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded
by the gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must
slacken , and then we can dodge back along the shore."

" The current's less a'ready, sir," said the man Gray,
who was sitting in the fore-sheets; " you can ease her
off a bit."

" Thank you, my man," said I, quite as if nothing had
happened: for we had all quietly made up our minds to
treat him like one of ourselves.

Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought
his voice was a little changed.

no TREASURE ISLAND

" The gun!" said he. ,

" I have thought of that," said I, for I made sure he
was thinking of a bombardment of the fort. " They
could never get the gun ashore, and if they did, they could
never haul it through the woods."

" Look astern, doctor," replied the captain.

We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and thfcre,
to our horror, were the five rogues busy about her, getting
off her jacket, as they called the stout tarpaulin cover
under which she sailed. Not only that, but it flashed
into my mind at the same moment that the round-shot
and the powder for the gun had been left tfehind, and a
stroke with an axe would put it all into the possession of
the evil ones aboard.

" Israel was Flint's gunner," said Gray hoarsely.

At any risk, we put the boat's head direct for the
landing-place. By this time we had got so far out of the
run of the current that we kept steerage way even at our
necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could keep her
steady for the goal. But the worst of it was, that with
the course I now held, we turned our broadside instead
of our stern to the Hispaniola, and offered a target like a
barn door.

I could hear, as well as see, that btandy-faced rascal,
Israel Hands, plumping down a round-shot on the deck.

" Who's the best shot?" asked the captain.

" Mr. Trelawney, out and away," said I.

" Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of
these men, sir? Hands, if possible," said the captain.

Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the
priming of his gun.

" Now," said the captain, " easy with that gun, sir,
or you'll swamp the boat. All hands stand by to trim her
when he aims." '

The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we

THE STOCKADE in

leaned over to the other side tokeep the balance, and all
was so nicely contrived that we did not ship a drop.

They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon
the swivel, and Hands, who was at the muzzle with the
rammer, was, in consequence, the most exposed. How-
ever, we had no luck; for just as Trelawney fired, down he
stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of
the other four who fell.

The cry he gave was echoed, not only by his companions
on board, but by a great number of voices from the
shore, and looking in that direction I saw the other
pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling
into their places in the boats.

" Here come the gigs, sir," said I.

" Give way then," cried the captain. " We mustn't
mind if we swamp her now. If we can't get ashore,
all's up."

" Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir," I added,
" the crew of the other most likely going round by shore
to cut us off."

" They'll have a hot run, sir," returned the captain.
" Jack ashore, you know. It's not them I mind; it's the
round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady's maid couldn't
miss. Tell us, scjuire, when you see the match, and we'll
hold water."

In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a
good pace for a boat so overloaded, and we had shipped
but little water in the process. We were now close in;
thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her; for the
ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand below
the clustering trees. The gig was no longer to be feared;
the little point had already concealed it from our eyes.
The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly delayed us, was now
making Reparation, and delaying our assailants. The
one source of danger was the gun.

ii2 TREASURE ISLAND

" If I durst/' said thec captain, " I'd stop and pick off
another man."

But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay
their shot. They had never so much as looked at their
fallen comrade, though he was not dead, and I could see
him trying to crawl away.

" Ready!" cried the squire.

" Hold!" cried the captain, quick as an echo.

And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that
sent her stern bodily under water. The report fell in at
the same instant of time. This was the first that Jim
heard, the sound of the squire's shot not having reached
him. Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely
knew; but I fancy it must have been over our heads, and
that the wind of it may have contributed to our disaster.

At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently,
in three feet of water, leaving the captain and myself,
facing each other, on our feet. The other three took
complete headers, and came up again, drenched and
bubbling.

So for there was no great harm. No lives were lost,
and we could wade ashore in safety. But there were all
our stores at the bottom, and, to make things worse,
only two guns out of five remained inta state for service.
Mine I had snatched from my knees and held over my
head, by a sort of instinct. As for the captain, he had
carried his over his shoulder by a bandoleer, and, like a
wise man, lock uppermost. The other three had gone
down with the boat.

To add to our concern, we heard voices already drawing
near us in the woods along shore; and we had not only
the danger of being cut off from the stockade in our half-
crippled state, but the fear before us whether, if Hunter
and Joyce were attacked by half a dozen, they would
have the sense and conduct to stand firm. Hunter was

THE STOCKADE 113

Steady, that we knew; Joyce *vas a doubtful case a
pleasant, polite man for a valet, and to brush one's clothes,
but not entirely fitted for a man of war.

With all this in our minds, we waded ashore as fast
as we could, leaving behind us the poor jolly-boat, and a
good half of all our powder and provisions.

CHAPTER XVIII

NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE DOCTOR: END OF
THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHTING

We made our best speed across the strip of wood that
now divided us from the stockade; and at every step we
took the voices of the buccaneers rang nearer. Soon we
could hear their footfalls as they ran, and the cracking of
the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket.

I began to see we should have a brush for it in earnest,
and looked to my priming. *

" Captain," said I, " Trelawney is the dead shot. Give
him your gun; his own is useless."

They exchanged, guns, and Trelawney, silent and cool
as he had been since the beginning of the bustle, hung a
moment on his heel to see that all was fit for service. At
the same time, observing Gray to be unarmed, I handed
him my cutlass. It did all our hearts good to see him
spit in his hand, knit his brows, and make the blade sing
through the air. It was plain from every line of his body
that our new hand was worth his salt.

Forty paces farther we came to the edge of the wood
and saw the stockade in front of us. We struck the
enclosure about the middle of the south side, and, almost
at the same time, seven mutineers Job Anderson, the

ii4 TREASURE ISLAND

boatswain, at their head appeared in full cry at the
south-western corner.

They paused, as if taken aback; and before they re-
covered, not only the squire and I, but Hunter and Joyce
from the block-house, had time to fire. The four shots
came in rather a scattering volley; but they did the busi-
ness: one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without
hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees.

After reloading, we walked down the outside of the
palisade to see to the fallen enemy. He was stone dead
shot through the heart.

We began to rejoice over our good success, when just
at that moment a pistol cracked in the bush, a ball whistled
close past my ear, and poor Tom Redruth stumbled and
fell his length on the ground. Both the squire and I
returned the shot; but as we had nothing to aim at, it is
probable we only wasted powder. Then we reloaded,
and turned our attention to poor Tom.

The captain and Gray were already examining him;
and I saw with half an eye that all was over.

I believe the readiness of our return volley had scattered
the mutineers once more, for we were suffered without
further molestation to get the poor old gamekeeper hoisted
over the stockade, and carried, groaning and bleeding,
into the log-house.

Poor old fellow, he had not uttered one word of sur-
prise, complaint, fear, or even acquiescence, from the
very beginning of our troubles till now, when we had
laid him down in the log-house to die. He had lain like a
Trojan behind his mattress in the gallery; he had followed
every order silently, doggedly, and well; he was the
oldest of our party by a score of years; and now, sullen,
old, serviceable servant, it was he that was to die.

The squire dropped down beside him on his knees
and kissed his hand, crying like a child.

THE STOCKADE 115

" Be I going, doctor?" he asked.

" Tom, my man," said I, " you're going home."

" I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first,"
he replied.

" Tom," said the squire, " say you forgive me, won't
you?"

" Would that be respectful like, from me to you,
squire?" was the answer. " Howsoever, so be it amen!"

After a little while of silence, he said he thought some-
body might read a prayer. " It's the custom, sir," he
added apologetically. And not long after, without
another word, he passed away.

In the meantime the captain, whom I had observed
to be wonderfully swollen about the chest and pockets,
had turned out a great many various stores the British
colours, a Bible, a coil of stoutish rope, pen, ink, the log-
book, and pounds of tobacco. He had found a longish
fir tree lying felled and cleared in the enclosure, and,
with the help of Hunter, he had set it up at the corner
of the log-house where the trunks crossed and made an
angle. Then, climbing on the roof, he had with hts own
hand bent and run up the colours.

This seemed mightily to relieve him. He re-entered
the log-house, and set about counting up the stores, as if
nothing else existed. But he had an eye on Tom's passage
for all that; and as soon as all was over, came forward
with another flag, and reverently spread it on the body.

" Don't you take on, sir," he said, shaking the squire's
hand. " All's well with him; no fear for a hand that's
been shot down in his duty to captain and owner. It
mayn't be good divinity, but it's a fact."

Then he pulled me aside.

" Dr. Livesey," he said, " in how many weeks do you
and squire expect the consort?"

I told him it was a question, not of weeks but of

n6 TREASURE ISLAND

months; that if we were not back by the end of August,
Blandly was to send to find us; but neither sooner nor
later. " You can calculate for yourself," I said.

" Why, yes," returned the captain, scratching his head,
" and making a large allowance, sir, for all the gifts of
Providence, I should say we were pretty close hauled."

" How do you mean?" I asked.

" It's a pity, sir, we lost that second load. That's what
I mean," replied the captain. " As for powder and shot,
we'll do. But the rations are short, very short so short,
Doctor Livesey, that we're perhaps as well without that
extra mouth."

And he pointed to the dead body under the flag.

Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot
passed high above the roof of the log-house and plumped
far beyond us in the wood.

" Oho!" said the captain. " Blaze away! You've little
enough powder already, my lads."

At the second trial, the aim was better, and the ball
descended inside the stockade, scattering a cloud of sand,
but dbing no further damage.

" Captain," said the squire, " the house is quite in-
visible from the ship. It must be the flag they are aiming
at. Would it not be wiser to take it ii*?"

" Strike my colours!" cried the captain. " No, sir,
not I;" and, as soon as he had said the words, I think
we all agreed with him. For it was not only a piece of
stout, seamanly, good feeling; it was good policy besides,
and showed our enemies that we despised their cannonade.

All through the evening they kept thundering away.
Ball after ball flew over or fell short, or kicked up the
sand in the enclosure; but they had to fire so high that
the shot fell dead and buried itself in the soft sand. We
had no ricochet to fear; and though one popped in through
the roof of the log-house, and out again through the floor,

THE STOCKADE 117

we soon got used to that sort ofc horse-play , and minded
it no more than cricket.

" There is one thing good about all this," observed the
captain: " the wood in front of us is likely clear. The
ebb has made a good while; our stores should be un*
covered. Volunteers to go and bring in pork!"

Gray and Hunter were the first to come forward .
Well armed, they stole out of the stockade; but it proved
a fruitless mission. The mutineers were bolder than we
fancied, or they put more trust in Israel's gunnery. For
four or five of them were busy carrying off our stores, and
wading out with them to one of the gigs that lay close by,
pulling an oar or so to hold her steady against the current.
Silver was in the stern-sheets in command; and every
man of them was now provided with a musket from some
secret magazine of their own.

The captain sat down to his log, and here is the be-
ginning of the entry:

" Alexander Smollett, master; David Livesey, ship's
doctor; Abraham Gray, carpenter's mate; John Trelaw-
ney, owner; John Hunter and Richard Joyce, owner's
servants, landsmen being all that is left faithful of the
ship's company with stores for ten days at short rations,
came ashore this d#y, and flew British colours on the log-
house in Treasure Island. Thomas Redruth, owner's
servant, landsman, shot by the mutineers; James Hawkins,
cabin-boy "

And at the same time I was wondering over poor Jim
Hawkins's fate.

A hail on the land side.

" Somebody hailing us," said Hunter, who was on guard.

" Doctor! squire! captain! Hullo, Hunter, is that
you?" came the cries.

And I ran to the door in time to see Jim Hawkins, safe
and sound, come climbing over the stockade.

ii8 TREASURE ISLAND

CHAPTER XIX

NARRATIVE RESUMED BY JIM HAWKINS: THE GARRISON
IN THE STOCKADE

As soon as Ben Gunn saw the colours he came to a halt,
stopped me by the arm, and sat down.

" Now," said he, " there's your friends, sure enough."

" Far more likely it's the mutineers," I answered.

" That!" he cried. " Why, in a place like this, where
nobody puts in but gen'lemen of fortune, Sliver would
fly the Jolly Roger, you don't make no doubt of Uiat. No;
that's your friends. There's been blows, too, and I
reckon your friends has had the best of it; and here they
are ashore in the old stockade, as was made years and
years ago by Flint. Ah, he was the man to have a head-
piece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were never
seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on'y Silver
Silver was that genteel."

" Well," said I, " that may be so, and so be it; all the
more reason that I should hurry on and join my friends."

" Nay, mate," returned Ben, " not you. You're a
good boy, or I'm mistook: but youire on'y a boy, all
told. Now, Ben Gunn is fly. Rum wouldn't bring me
there, where you're going not rum wouldn't, till I see
your born gen'leman, and gets it on his word of honour.
And you won't forget my words: ' A precious sight (that's
what you'll say), a precious sight more confidence ' and
then nips him."

And he pinched me the third time with the same air
of cleverness.

" And when Ben Gunn is wanted, you know where to
find him, Jim. Just wheer you found him to-day. And
him that comes is to have a white thing in his hand: and

THE STOCKADE 119

he's to come alone. Oh, and you'll say this: c Ben
Gunn,' says you, ' has reasons of his own.' "

" Well," said I, " I believe I understand. You have
something to propose, and you wish to see the squire or
the doctor; and you're to be found where I found you.
Is that all?"

" And when? says you," he added. " Why 3 from about
noon observation to about six bells."

" Good," said I, " and now may I go?"

" You won't forget?" he inquired anxiously. " Precious
sight, and reasons of his own, says you. Reasons of his
own; that's the mainstay; as between man and man.
Well, then " still holding me " I reckon you can go,
Jim. And, Jim, if you was to see Silver, you wouldn't
go for to sell Ben Gunn? wild horses wouldn't draw it
from you? No, says you. And if them pirates camp
ashore, Jim, what would you say but there'd be widders
in the morning?"

Here he was interrupted by a loud report, and a cannon-
ball came tearing through the trees and pitched in the
sand, not a hundred yards from where we two were
talking. The next moment each of us had taken to his
heels in a different direction.

For a good hoift* to come frequent reports shook the
island, and balls kept crashing through the woods. I
moved from hiding-place to hiding-place, always pursued,
or so it seemed to me, by these terrifying missiles. But
towards the end of the bombardment, though still I durst
not venture in the direction of the stockade, where the
balls fell oftenest, I had begun, in a manner, to pluck up
my heart again; and after a long detour to the east, crept
down among the shore-side trees.

The sun had just set, the sea-breeze was rustling and
tumbling *in the woods, and ruffling the grey surface of
the anchorage; the tide, too, was far out, and great tracts

120 TREASURE ISLAND

of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat of the day,
chilled me through my jacket.

The Hispaniola still lay where she had anchored; but,
sure enough, there was the Jolly Roger the black flag
of piracy flying from her peak. Even as I looked, there
came another red flash and another report, that sent the
echoes clattering, and one more round-shot whistled
through the air. It was the last of the cannonade.

I lay for some time, watching the bustle which suc-
ceeded the attack. Men were demolishing something
with axes on the beach near the stockade; the -poor jolly-
boat, I afterwards discovered. Away, near the mouth
of the river, a great fire was glowing among the trees, and
between that point and the ship one of the gigs kept
coming and going, the men, whom I had seen so gloomy,
shouting at the oars like children. But there was a sound
in their voices which suggested rum.

At length I thought I might return towards the stockade.
I was pretty far down on the low, sandy spit that encloses
the anchorage to the east, and is joined at half-water to
Skeleton Island; and now, as I rose to my feet, I saw,
some distance farther down the spit, and rising from
among low bushes, an isolated rock, pretty high, and
peculiarly white in colour. It occurred to me that this
might be the white rock of which Ben Gunn had spoken,
and that some day or other a boat might be wanted, and I
should know where to look for one.

Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained
the rear, or shoreward side, of the stockade, and was soon
warmly welcomed by the faithful party.

I had soon told my story, and began to look about me.
The log-house was made of unsquared trunks of pine
roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several places
as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the surface of
the sand. There was a porch at the door, and under this

THE STOCKADE 121

porch the little spring welled up into an artificial basin of
a rather odd kind no other than a great ship's kettle of
iron, with the bottom knocked out, and sunk " to her
bearings ", as the captain said, among the sand.

Little had been left beside the framework of the house;
but in one corner there was a stone slab laid down by way
of hearth, and an old rusty iron basket to contain the fire.

The slopes of the knoll and all the inside of the stockade
had been cleared of timber to build the house, and we
could see by the stumps what a fine and lofty grove had
been destroyed. Most of the soil had been washed away
or buried in drift after the removal of the trees; only
where the streamlet rn down from the kettle a thick
bed of moss and some ferns and little creeping bushes
were still green among the sand. Very close around the
stockade too close for defence, they said the wood still
flourished high and dense, all of fir on the land side, but
towards the sea with a large admixture of live oaks.

The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken,
whistled through every chink of the rude building, and
sprinkled the floor with a continual rain of fine* sand.
There was sand in our eyes, sand in our teeth, sand in our
suppers, sand dancing in the spring at the bottom of the
kettle, for all the 4vorld like porridge beginning to boil.
Our chimney was a square hole in the roof; it was but a
little part of the smoke that found its way out, and the
rest eddied about the house, and kept us coughing and
piping the eye.

Add to this that Gray, the new man, had his face tied
up in a bandage for a cut he had got in breaking away
from the mutineers; and that poor old Tom Redruth, still
unburied, lay along the wall, stiff and stark under the
Union Jack.

If we had been allowed to sit idle, we should all have
fallen in the blues, but Captain Smollett was never the

122 TREASURE ISLAND

man for that. All hands were called up before him, and
he divided us into watches. The doctor, and Gray, and I,
for one; the squire, Hunter, and Joyce upon the other.
Tired as we all were, two were sent out for firewood; two
more were set to dig a grave for Redruth; the doctor was
named cook; I was put sentry at the door; and the
captain himself went from one to another, keeping up our
spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted.

From time to time the doctor came to the door for a
little air and to rest his eyes, which were almost smoked
out of his head; and whenever he did so, he had a word
for me.

" That man Smollett," he said once, " is a better man
than I am. And when I say that it means a deal, Jim."

Another time he came and was silent for a while. Then
he put his head on one side, and looked at me.

<k Is this Ben Gunn a man?" he asked.

" I do not know, sir," said I. " I am not very sure
whether he's sane."

" If there's any doubt about the matter, he is," returned
the doctor. " A man who has been three years biting
his nails on a desert island, Jim, can't expect to appear as
sane as you or me. It doesn't lie in human nature. Was
it cheese you said he had a fancy for?"

" Yes, sir, cheese," I answered.

" Well, Jim," says he, "just see the good that comes
of being dainty in your food. You've seen my snuff-box,
haven't you? And you never saw me take snuff; the
reason being that in my snuff-box I carry a piece of Par-
mesan cheese a cheese made in Italy, very nutritious.
Well, that's for Ben Gunn!"

Before supper was eaten we buried old Tom in the
sand, and stood round him for a while bareheaded in
the breeze. A good deal of firewood had been got in s
but not enough for the captain's fancy; and he sjiook his

THE STOCKADE 123

head over it, and told us we " must get back to this to-
morrow rather livelier ". Then, when we had eaten our
pork, and each had a good stiff glass of brandy grog,
the three chiefs got together in a corner to discuss our
prospects.

It appears they were at their wits' end what to do,
the stores being so low that we must have been starved
into surrender long before help came. But our best hope,
it was decided, was to kill off the buccaneers until they
either hauled down their flag or ran away with the His-
paniola. JFrom nineteen they were already reduced to
fifteen, two others were wounded, and one, at least the
man shot beside the gun severely wounded, if he were
not dead. Every time we had a crack at them, we were
to take it, saving our own lives, with the extremest care.
And, besides that, we had two able allies rum and the
climate.

As for the first, though we were about half a mile away,
we could hear them roaring and singing late into the
night; and as for the second, the doctor staked his wig
that, camped where they were in the marsh, and Unpro-
vided with remedies, the half of them would be on their
backs before a week.

" So/' he addedf "if we are not all shot down first,
they'll be glad to be packing in the schooner. It's always
a ship, and they can get to buccaneering again, I suppose."

" First ship that ever I lost," said Captain Smollett.

I was dead tired, as you may fancy; and when I got
to sleep, which was not till after a great deal of tossing, I
slept like a log of wood.

The rest had long been up, and had already breakfasted
and increased the pile of firewood by about half as much
again, when I was awakened by a bustle and the sound of
voices.

" Flag of truce!" I heard someone say; and then,

i2 4 TREASURE ISLAND

immediately after, with & cry of surprise, " Silver himself!"
And at that up I jumped, and, rubbing my eyes, ran
to a loophole in the wall.

CHAPTER XX
SILVER'S EMBASSY

Sure enough, there were two men just outside the
stockade, one of them waving a white cloth; the other, no
less a person than Silver himself, standing placidly by.

It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that
I think I ever was abroad in; a chill that pierced into the
marrow. The sky was bright and cloudless overhead,
and the tops of the trees shone rosily in the sun. But
where Silver stood with his lieutenant all was still in
shadow, and they waded knee deep in a low, white vapour,
that had crawled during the night out of the morass. The
chill asid the vapour taken together told a poor tale of the
island. It was plainly a damp, feverish, unhealthy spot.

" Keep indoors, men," said the captain. " Ten to one
this is a trick."

Then he hailed the buccaneer.

" Who goes? Stand, or we fire."

" Flag of truce," cried Silver.

The captain was in the porch, keeping himself care-
fully out of the way of a treacherous shot should any be
intended. He turned and spoke to us:

" Doctor's watch on the look-out. Dr. Livesey, take
the north side, if you please; Jim, the east; Gray, west.
The watch below, all hands to load muskets. Lively,
men, and careful."

And then he turned again to the mutineers.

THE STOCKADE 125

" And what do you want with your flag of truce?" he
cried.

This time it was the other man who replied.

" Cap'n Silver, sir, to come on board and make terms,"
he shouted.

" Cap'n Silver! Don't know him. Who's he?" cried
the captain. And we could hear him adding to himself:
" Cap'n, is it? My heart, and here's promotion!"

Long John answered for himself.

" Me, sir. These poor lads have chosen me cap'n,
after your^desertion, sir " laying a particular emphasis
upon the word " desertion ". " We're willing to submit,
if we can come to terms, and no bones about it. All I ask
is your word, Cap'n Smollett, to let me safe and sound out
of this here stockade, and one minute to get out o' shot
before a gun is fired."

" My man," said Captain Smollett, " I have nor the
slightest desire to talk to you. If you wish to talk to me,
you can come, that's all. If there's any treachery, it'll
be on your side, and the Lord help you."

" That's enough, cap'n," shouted Long John cheerily.
" A word from you's enough. I know a gentleman, and
you may lay to that."

We could see ttuf man who carried the flag of truce
attempting to hold Silver back. Nor was that wonderful,
seeing how cavalier had been the captain's answer. But
Silver laughed at him aloud, and slapped him on the
back, as if the idea of alarm had been absurd. Then he
advanced to the stockade, threw over his crutch, got a
leg up, and with great vigour and skill succeeded in sur-
mounting the fence and dropping safely to the other
side.

I will confess that I was far too much taken up with
what was oing on to be of the slightest use as sentry;
indeed, thad already deserted my eastern loophole, and

126 TREASURE ISLAND

crept up behind the captain, who had now seated himself
on the threshold, with his elbows on his knees, his head
in his hands, and his eyes fixed on the water, as it bubbled
out of the old iron kettle in the sand. He was whistling
to himself, " Come, Lasses and Lads ".

Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll.
What with the steepness of the incline, the thick tree
stumps, and the soft sand, he and his crutch were as
helpless as a ship in stays. But he stuck to it like a man
in silence, and at last arrived before the captain, whom
he saluted in the handsomest style. He was tricked out
in his best; an immense blue coat, thick with brass buttons,
hung as low as to his knees, and a fine laced hat was set
on the back of his head.

" Here you are, my man," said the captain, raising his
head. " You had better sit down."

" You ain't a-going to let me inside, cap'n?" com-
plained Long John. " It's a main cold morning, to be
sure, sir, to sit outside upon the sand."

" Why, Silver," said the captain, " if you had pleased
to be? an honest man, you might have been sitting in your
galley. It's your own doing. You're either my ship's
cook and then you were treated handsome or Cap'n
Silver, a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can
go hang!"

" Well, well, cap'n," returned the sea-cook, sitting
down as he was bidden on the sand, " you'll have to give
me a hand up again, that's all. A sweet pretty place you
have of it here. Ah, there's Jim! The top of the morn-
ing to you, Jim. Doctor, here's my service. Why, there
you all are together like a happy family, in a manner of
speaking."

" If you have anything to say, my man, better say it,"
said the captain.

" Right you were, Cap'n Smollett," replied Silver.

THE STOCKADE 127

" Dooty is dooty, to be sure. Wall, now, you look here,
that was a good lay of yours last night. I don't deny it
was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a hand-
spike-end. And I'll not deny neither but what some of
my people was shook maybe all was shook; maybe I was
shook myself; maybe that's why I'm here for terms. But
you mark me, cap'n, it won't do twice, by thunder!
We'll have to do sentry go, and ease off a point or so on
the rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the
wind's eye. But I'll tell you I was sober; I was on'y
dog-tired; and if I'd awoke a second sooner I'd a-caught
you at the act, I would. He wasn't dead when I got
round to him, not he."

" Well?" says Captain Smollett, as cool as can be.

All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would
never have guessed it from his tone. As for me, I began
to have an inkling. Ben Gunn's last words came back to
my mind. I began to suppose that he had paid the buc-
caneers a visit, while they all lay drunk together round their
fire, and I reckoned up with glee that we had only fourteen
enemies to deal with.

" Well, here it is," said Silver. " We want that treasure,
and we'll have it that's our point! You would just as
soon save your lives, I reckon; and that's yours. You
have a chart, haven't you?"

" That's as may be," replied the captain.

" Oh, well, you have, I know that," returned Long
John. " You needn't be so husky with a man; there
ain't a particle of service in that, and you may lay to it.
What I mean is, we want your chart. Now, I never
meant you no harm, myself."

" That won't do with me, my man," interrupted the
captain. " We know exactly what you meant to do,
and we don't care; for now, you see, you can't
do it."

128 TREASURE ISLAND

And the captain looked at him calmly, and proceeded
to fill a pipe.

" If Abe Gray " Silver broke out.

" Avast there!" cried Mr. Smollett. " Gray told me
nothing, and I asked him nothing; and what's more, I
would see you and him and this whole island blown clean
out of the water into blazes first. So there's my mind
for you, my man, on that."

This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down.
He had been growing nettled before, but now he pulled
himself togeth er .

" Like enough," said he. " I would set no limits to
what gentlemen might consider shipshape, or might
not, as the case were. And, seein' as how you are about
to take a pipe, cap'n, I'll make so free as do likewise."

And he filled a pipe and lighted it; and the two men sat
silently smoking for quite a while, now looking each other
in the face, now stopping their tobacco, now leaning for-
ward to spit. It was as good as the play to see them.

" Now," resumed Silver, " here it is. You give us the
chart* to get the treasure by, and drop shooting poor
seamen, and stoving of their heads in while asleep. You
do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come
aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then
I'll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to
clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or, if that ain't to
your fancy, some of my hands being rough, and having
old scores, on account of hazing, then you can stay here,
you can. We'll divide stores with you, man for man;
and I'll give my affy-davy, as before, to speak the first
ship I sight, and send 'em here to pick you up. Now
you'll own that's talking. Handsomer you couldn't look
to get, not you. And I hope " raising his voice " that
all hands in this here block-house will overhaul my words,
for what is spoke to one is spoke to all." *

THE STOCKADE 129

Captain Smollett rose from his se&t, and knocked out the
ashes of his pipe in the palm of his left hand.

11 Is that all?" he asked.

" Every last word, by thunder !" answered John.
" Refuse that, and you've seen the last of me but musket-
balls."

" Very good," said the captain. " Now you'll hear
me. If you'll come up one by one, unarmed, I'll engage
to clap you all in irons, and take you home to a fair trial
in England. If you won't, my name is Alexander Smollett,
I've flowi* my sovereign's colours, and I'll see you all
to Davy Jones. You can't find the treasure. You can't
sail the ship there's not a man among you fit to sail
the ship. You can't fight us Gray, there, got away from
five of you. Your ship's in irons, Master Silver; you're
on a lee shore, and so you'll find. I stand here and tell
you so; and they're the last good words you'll get from
me; for, in the name of heaven, I'll put a bullet in your
back when next I meet you. Tramp, my lad. Bundle
out of this, please, hand over hand, and double quick."

Silver's face was a picture; his eyes started in his head
with wrath. He shook the fire out of his pipe.

" Give me a hand up!" he cried.

" Not I," returned the captain.

" Who'll give me a hand up?" he roared.

Not a man among us moved. Growling the foulest
imprecations, he crawled along the sand till he got hold
of the porch and could hoist himself again upon his
crutch. Then he spat into the spring.

" There!" he cried, " that's what I think of ye. Before
an hour's out, I'll stove in your old block-house like
a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, laugh! Before
an hour's out, ye'll laugh upon the other side. Them
that die'll "be the lucky ones."

And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed

i 3 o TREASURE ISLAND

down the sand, was 4 helped across the stockade, after
four or five failures, by the man with the flag of truce,
and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the
trees.

CHAPTER XXI

THE ATTACK

As soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had
been closely watching him, turned towards the interior
of the house, and found not a man of us at his post but
Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen him angry.

" Quarters! " he roared. And then, as we all slunk
back to our places, " Gray," he said, " Fll put your
name in the log; you've stood by your duty like a seaman.
Mr. Trelawney, I'm surprised at you, sir. Doctor, I
thought you had worn the king's coat! If that was how
you served at Fontenoy, sir, you'd have been better in
your berth."

The doctor's watch were all back at their loopholes,
the rest were busy loading the spare muskets, and every-
one with a red face, you may be certain, and a flea in his
ear, as the saying is. c

The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then
he spoke.

" My lads," said he, " I've given Silver a broadside.
I pitched it in red-hot on purpose; and before the hour's
out, as he said, we shall be boarded. We're outnumbered,
I needn't tell you that, but we fight in shelter; and,
a minute ago, I should have said we fought with dis-
cipline. I've no manner of doubt that we can drub them,
if you choose."

Then he went the rounds, and saw, as hd said, that
all was clear.

THE STOCKADE 131

On the two short sides of thS house, east and west,
there were only two loopholes; on the south side, where
the porch was, two again; and on the north side, five.
There was a round score of muskets for the seven of us;
the firewood had been built into four piles tables,
you might say one about the middle of each side, and
on each of these tables some ammunition and four loaded
muskets were laid ready to the hand of the defenders.
In the middle, the cutlasses lay ranged.

" Toss out the fire," said the captain; " the chill is
past, andwe mustn't have smoke in our eyes."

The iron fire-basket was carried bodily out by Mr.
Trelawney, and the embers smothered among sand.

" Hawkins hasn't had his breakfast. Hawkins, help
yourself, and back to your post to eat it," continued
Captain Smollett. " Lively, now, my lad; you'll want
it before you've done. Hunter, serve out a round of
brandy to all hands."

And while this was going on, the captain completed,
in his own mind, the plan of the defence.

" Doctor, you will take the door," he resumed. " See
and don't expose yourself; keep within, and fire through
the porch. Hunter, take the east side, there. Joyce,
you stand by the Vest, my man. Mr. Trelawney, yov
are the best shot you and Gray will take this long
north side, with the five loopholes; it's there the danger
is. If they can get up to it, and fire in upon us through
our own ports, things would begin to look dirty.
Hawkins, neither you nor I are much account at the
shooting; we'll stand by to load and bear a hand."

As the captain had said, the chill was past. As soon
as the sun had climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell
with all its force upon the clearing, and drank up the
vapours at a draught. Soon the sand was baking, and
the resin melting in the logs of the block-house. Jackets

i 3 2 TREASURE ISLAND

and coats were flung a%ide; shirts thrown open at the
neck, and rolled up to the shoulders; and we stood there,
each at his post, in a fever of heat and anxiety.

An hour passed away.

" Hang them!" said the captain. " This is as dull as
the doldrums. Gray, whistle for a wind."

And just at that moment came the first news of the attack.

" If you please, sir," said Joyce, " if I see anyone
am I to fire?"

" I told you so!" cried the captain.

" Thank you, sir," returned Joyce, with the same
quiet civility.

Nothing followed for a time; but the remark had set
us all on the alert, straining ears and eyes the musketeers
with their pieces balanced in their hands, the captain
out in the middle of the block-house, with his mouth
very tight and a frown on his face.

So some seconds passed, till suddenly Joyce whipped
up his musket and fired. The report had scarcely died
away ere it was repeated and repeated from without
in a scattering volley, shot behind shot, like a string of
geese, from every side of the enclosure. Several bullets
struck the log-house, but not one entered; and, as the
smoke cleared away and vanished, the stockade and the
woods around it looked as quiet and empty as before.
Not a bough waved, not the gleam of a musket-barrel
betrayed the presence of our foes.

" Did you hit your man?" asked the captain.

" No, sir," replied Joyce. " I believe not, sir."

" Next best thing to tell the truth," muttered Captain
Smollett. " Load his gun, Hawkins. How many should
you say there were on your side, doctor?"

" I know precisely," said Dr. Livesey. " Three
shots were fired on this side. I saw the three 'flashes
two close together one farther to the west."

THE STOCKADE 133

" Three!" repeated the captaiif. " And how many
on yours, Mr. Trelawney?"

But this was not so easily answered. There had come
many from the north seven, by the squire's computation;
eight or nine, according to Gray. From the east and west
only a single shot had been fired. It was plain, therefore,
that the attack would be developed from the north, and
that on the other three sides we were only to be annoyed
by a show of hostilities. But Captain Smollett made
no change in his arrangements. If the mutineers suc-
ceeded in .crossing the stockade, he argued, they would
take possession of any unprotected loophole, and shoot
us down like rats in our own stronghold.

Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Sud-
denly, with a loud huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped
from the woods on the north side, and ran straight on
the stockade. At the same moment the fire was once
more opened from the woods, and a rifle-ball sang through
the doorway, and knocked the doctor's musket into
bits.

The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys,
Squire and Gray fired again, and yet again; three men
fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the
outside. But of theste, one was evidently more frightened
than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack, and
instantly disappeared among the trees.

Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made
good their footing inside our defences; while from the
shelter of the woods seven or eight men, each evidently
supplied with several muskets, kept up a hot, though
useless, fire on the log-house.

The four who had boarded made straight before them
for the building, shouting as they ran, and the men
among thetrees shouted back to encourage them. Several
shots were fired; but, such was the hurry of the marksmen,

i 3 4 TREASURE ISLAND

that not one appeared to have taken effect. In a moment,
the four pirates had swarmed up the mound and were
upon us.

The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at
the middle loophole.

" At 'em, all hands all hands!" he roared, in a voice
of thunder.

At the same moment another pirate grasped Hunter's
musket by the muzzle, wrenched it from his hands,
plucked it through the loophole, and, with one stunning
blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floo^, Mean-
while a third, running unharmed all round the house,
appeared suddenly in the doorway, and fell with his
cutlass on the doctor.

Our position was utterly reversed. A moment since
we were firing, under cover, at an exposed enemy; now
it was we who lay uncovered, and could not return a blow.

The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our
comparative safety. Cries and confusion, the flashes and
reports of pistol-shots, and one loud groan, rang in my
ears. *

" Out, lads, out, and fight 'em in the open! Cutlasses!"
cried the captain.

I snatched a cutlass from the pile, *and someone, at the
same time snatching another, gave me a cut across the
knuckles which I hardly felt. I dashed out of the door
into the clear sunlight. Someone was close behind, I
knew not whom. Right in front, the doctor was pur-
suing his assailant down the hill, and, just as my eyes fell
upon him, beat down his guard, and sent him sprawling
on his back, with a great slash across the face.

" Round the house, lads! round the house!" cried the
captain; and even in the hurly-burly I perceived a change
in his voice. '

Mechanically I obeyed, turned eastwards, and with

THE STOCKADE 135

my cutlass raised, ran round tHe corner of the house.
Next moment I was face to face with Anderson. He
roared aloud, and his hanger went up above his head,
flashing in the sunlight. I had not time to be afraid, but^
as the blow still hung impending, leaped in a trice upon
one side, and missing my footing in the soft sand, rolled
headlong down the slope.

When I had first sallied from the door, the other muti-
neers had been already swarming up the palisade to make
an end of us. One man, in a red night-cap, with his
cutlass in his mouth, had even got upon the top and
thrown a leg across. Well, so short had been the interval,
that when I found my feet again all was in the same
posture, the fellow with the red night-cap still half-way
over, another still just showing his head above the top
of the stockade. And yet, in this breath of time, the
fight was over, and the victory was ours.

Gray, following close behind me, had cut down the big
boatswain ere he had time to recover from his lost blow.
Another had been shot at a loophole in the verj act of
firing into the house, and now lay in agony, the pistol
still smoking in his hand. A third, as I had seen, the
doctor had disposed of at a blow. Of the four who had
scaled the palisade?, one only remained unaccounted for,
and he, having left his cutlass on the field, was now
clambering out again with the fear of death upon him.

" Fire fire from the house!" cried the doctor. " And
you, lads, back into cover."

But his words were unheeded, no shot was fired, and
the last boarder made good his escape, and disappeared
with the rest into the wood. In three seconds nothing
remained of the attacking party but the five who had
fallen, four on the inside, and one on the outside, of the
palisade.*

The doctor and Gray and I ran full speed for shelter.

< 3 6 TREASURE ISLAND

The survivors would so'on be back where they had left
their muskets, and at any moment the fire might recom-
mence.

The house was by this time somewhat cleared of smoke,
and we saw at a glance the price we had paid for victory.
Hunter lay beside his loophole, stunned; Joyce by his,
3hot through the head, never to move again; while right
in the centre, the squire was supporting the captain, one
as pale as the other.

" The captain's wounded," said Mr. Trelawney.

" Have they run?" asked Mr. Smollett.

" All that could, you may be bound," returned the
doctor; " but there's five of them will never run again."

" Five!" cried the captain. " Come, that's better.
Five against three leaves us four to nine. That's better
odds than we had at starting. We were seven to nineteen
then, or thought we were, and that's as bad to bear." x

*The mutineers were soon only eight in number, for the man shot by
Mr. Trelawney on board the schooner died that same evening of his wound.
But this was, of course, not known till after by the faithful party.

Part V My Sea Adventure

CHAPTER XXII

HOW I BEGAN MY SEA ADVENTURE'

There was no return of the mutineers not so much as
another shot out of the woods. They had " got their
rations for that day ", as the captain put it, and we had
the place to ourselves and a quiet time to overhaul the
wounded and get dinner. Squire and I cooked outside
in spite of the danger, and even outside we could hardly
tell what we were at, for horror of the loud groaftis that
reached us from the doctor's patients.

Out of the eight men who had fallen in the action, only
three still breathedf that one of the pirates who had been
shot at the loophole, Hunter, and Captain Smollett; and
of these the first two were as good as dead; the mutineer,
indeed, died under the doctor's knife, and Hunter, do
what we could, never recovered consciousness in this
world. He lingered all day, breathing loudly, like the old
buccaneer at home in his apoplectic fit; but the bones of
his chest had been crushed by the blow and his skull
fractured in falling, and some time in the following night,
without sign or sound, he went to his Maker.

As fofr the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed,
but not^ dangerous. No organ was fatally injured. Ander-

(D419) 137 E2

138 TREASURE ISLAND

son's ball for it was Job that shot him first had broken
his shoulder-blade and touched the lung, not badly;
the second had only torn and displaced some muscles
in the calf. He was sure to recover, the doctor said, but
m the meantime, and for weeks to come, he must not
walk nor move his arm, nor so much as speak when he
.could help it.

My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-
bite. Dr. Livesey patched it up with plaster, and pulled
my ears for me into the bargain.

After dinner the squire and the doctor sat by .the cap-
tain's side a while in consultation; and when they had
talked to their hearts' content, it being then a little past
noon, the doctor took up his hat and pistols, girt on a
cutlass, put the chart in his pocket, and with a musket
over his shoulder, crossed the palisade on the north side,
and set off briskly through the trees.

Gray and I were sitting together at the far end of the
block- house, to be out of earshot of our officers consult-
ing; and Gray took his pipe out of his mouth and fairly
forgot 'to put it back again, so thunderstruck he w r as at
this occurrence.

" Why, in the name of Davy Jones," said he, " is Dr.
Livesey mad?"

" Why, no," says I. " He's about the last of this crew
for that, I take it,"

" Well, shipmate," said Gray, " mad he may not be;
but if he's not, you mark my words, / am."

" I take it," replied I, " the doctor has his idea; and if
I am right, he's going now to see Ben Gunn."

I was right, as appeared later; but, in the meantime,
the house being stifling hot, and the little patch of sand
inside the palisade ablaze with midday sun, I began to
get another thought into my head, which was not by
any means so right. What I began to do was to envy the

MY SEA ADVENTURE 139

doctor, walking in the cool shadow of the woods, with
the birds about him, and the pleasant smell of the pines,
while I sat grilling, with my clothes stuck to the hot
resin, and so much blood about me, and so many poor
dead bodies lying all around, that I took a disgust of the
place that was almost as strong as fear.

All the time I was washing out the block-house, and
then washing up the things from dinner, this disgust and
envy kept growing stronger and stronger, till at last,
being near a bread-bag, and no one then observing me,
I took the first step towards my escapade, and filled both
pockets of my coat with biscuit.

I was a fool, if you like, and certainly I was going to
do a foolish, over-bold act; but I was determined to
do it with all the precautions in my power. These bis-
cuits, should anything befall me, would keep me, at
least, from starving till far on in the next day.

The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols,
and as I already had a powder-horn and bullets, I felt
myself well supplied with arms.

As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad
one in itself. I was to go down the sandy spit that divides
the anchorage on the east from the open sea, find the
white rock I had 1 observed last evening, and ascertain
whether it was there or not that Ben Gunn had hidden
his boat; a thing quite worth doing, as I still believe.
But as I was certain I should not be allowed to leave the
enclosure, my only plan was to take French leave, and
slip out when nobody was watching; and that was so
bad a way of doing it as made the thing itself wrong.
But I was only a boy, and I had made my mind up.

Well, as things at last fell out, I found an admirable
opportunity. The squire and Gray were busy helping
the captain with his bandages; the coast was clear; I
made a bolt for it over the stockade and into the thickest

i 4 o TREASURE ISLAND

of the trees, and before cmy absence was observed I was
out of cry of my companions.

This was my second folly, far worse than the first, as
I left but two sound men to guard the house; but like
the first, it was a help towards saving all of us.

I took my way straight for the east coast of the island,
for I was determined to go down the sea side of the spit
to avoid all chance of observation from the anchorage.
It was already late in the afternoon, although still warm
and sunny. As I continued to thread the tall woods
I could hear from far before me not only the cominuous
thunder of the surf, but a certain tossing of foliage and
grinding of boughs, which showed me the sea-breeze
had set in higher than usual. Soon cool draughts of air
began to reach me; and a few steps farther I came forth
into the open borders of the grove, and saw the sea lying
blue and sunny to the horizon, and the surf tumbling
and tossing its foam along the beach.

I have never seen the sea quiet round Treasure Island.
The sun might blaze overhead, the air be without a breath,
the surface smooth and blue, but still these great rollers
would be running along all the external coast, thundering
and thundering by day and night; and I scarce believe
there is one spot in the island where* a man would be
out of earshot of their noise.

I walked along beside the surf with great enjoyment,
till, thinking I was now got far enough to the south,
I took the cover of some thick bushes, and crept warily
up to the ridge of the spit.

Behind me was the sea, in front the anchorage. The
sea-breeze, as though it had the sooner blown itself out
by its unusual violence, was already at an end; it had
been succeeded by light, variable airs from the south
and south-east, carrying great banks of fog; and the
anchorage, under lee of Skeleton Island, lay stijl and

MY SEA ADVENTURE 141

leadeft as when first we entered* it. The Hispaniola, in
that unbroken mirror, was exactly portrayed from the
truck to the water-line, the Jolly Roger hanging from
her peak.

Alongside lay one of the gigs, Silver in the stern-sheets
him I could always recognize while a couple of men
were leaning over the stern bulwarks, one of them with,
a red cap the very rogue that I had seen some hours
before stride-legs upon the palisade. Apparently they
were talking and laughing, though at that distance
upwards of a mile I could, of course, hear no word of
what was said. All at once there began the most horrid,
unearthly screaming, which at first startled me badly,
though I had soon remembered the voice of Captain
Flint, and even thought I could make out the bird by her
bright plumage as she sat perched upon her master's wrist.

Soon after the jolly-boat shoved off and pulled for
shore, and the man with the red cap and his comrade
v/ent below by the cabin companion.

Just about the same time the sun had gone* down
behind the Spy-glass, and as the fog was collecting
rapidly, it began to grow dark in earnest. I saw I must
lose no time if I were to find the boat that evening.

The white rock,visible enough above the brush, was
still some eighth of a mile farther down the spit, and it
took me a goodish time to get up with it, crawling, often
on all-fours, among the scrub. Night had almost come
when I laid my hand on its rough sides. Right below
it there was an exceedingly small hollow of green turf,
hidden by banks and a thick underwood about knee-deep,
that grew there very plentifully; and in the centre of
the dell, sure enough, a little tent of goatskins, like
what the gipsies carry about with them in England.

I dropped into the hollow, lifted the side of the tent,
and theare was Ben Gunn's boat home-made if ever

*4* TREASURE ISLAND

anything was home-made: a rude, lop-sided framework
D tough wood, and stretched upon that a covering of
goatskin, with the hair inside. The thing was extremely
small, even for me, and I can hardly imagine that it could
have floated with a full-sized man. There was one
thwart set as low as possible, a kind of stretcher in the
bows, and a double paddle for propulsion.

I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient
Britons made, but I have seen one since, and I can give
you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn's boat than by saying it
was like the first and the worst coracle ever made, by man.
But the great advantage of the coracle it certainly pos-
sessed, for it was exceedingly light and portable.

Well, now that I had found the boat, you would have
thought I had had enough of truantry for once; but, in
the meantime, I had taken another notion, and become
so obstinately fond of it, that I would have carried it out,
I believe, in the teeth of Captain Smollett himself. This
was to slip out under cover of the night, cut the Hispaniola
adrift, 'and let her go ashore where she fancied. I had
quite made up my mind that the mutineers, after their
repulse of the morning, had nothing nearer their hearts
than to up anchor and away to sea; this, I thought, it
would be a good thing to prevent; and now that I had seen
how they left their watchmen unprovided with a boat,
I thought it might be done with little risk.

Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty
meal of biscuit. It was a night out of ten thousand for
my purpose. The fog had now buried all heaven. As
the last rays of daylight dwindled and disappeared, ab-
solute blackness settled down on Treasure Island. And
when, at last, I shouldered the coracle, and groped my
way stumblingly out of the hollow where I had supped,
there were but two points visible on the whole anchorage.

One was the great fire on shore, by which the defeated

MY SEA ADVENTURE 143

pirates lay carousing in the swamp. The other, a mere
blur of light upon the darkness, indicated the position
of the anchored ship. She had swung round to the ebb
her bow was now towards me the only lights on board
were in the cabin; and what I saw was merely a reflection
on the fog of the strong rays that flowed from the stern
window.

The ebb had already run some time, and I had to wade
through a long belt of swampy sand, where I sank several
times above the ankle, before I came to the edge of the
retreating water, and wading a little way in, with some
strength and dexterity, set my coracle, keel downwards,
on the surface.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE EBB-TIDE RUNS

The coracle as I had ample reason to know before
I was done with her was a very safe boat for a person
of my height and weight, both buoyant and clever in a
sea-way; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided
craft to manage. Do as you pleased, she always made
more leeway than anything else, and turning round and
round was the manoeuvre she was best at. Even Ben
Gunn himself has admitted that she was " queer to
handle till you knew her way ".

Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in
every direction but the one I was bound to go; the most
part of the time we were broadside on, and I am very
sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the
tide. By good fortune, paddle as I pleased, the tide was
still sweeping me down; and there lay the Hispaniola
right m the fair-way, hardly to be missed.

*4* TREASURE ISLAND

First she loomed before me like a blot of something
yet blacker than darkness, then her spars and hull began
to take shape, and the next moment, as it seemed (for,
the farther I went the brisker grew the current of the
ebb), I was alongside of her hawser, and had laid hold.

The hawser was as taut as a bowstring so strong she
pulled upon her anchor. All round the hull, in the
blackness, the rippling current bubbled and chattered
like a little mountain stream. One cut with my sea-gully,
and the Hispaniola would go humming down the tide.

So far so good; but it next occurred to my rec9llection
that a taut hawser, suddenly cut, is a thing as dangerous
as a kicking horse. Ten to one, if I were so foolhardy
as to cut the Hispaniola from her anchor, I and the coracle
would be knocked clean out of the water.

This brought me to a full stop, and if fortune had not
again particularly favoured me, I should have had to
abandon my design. But the light airs which had begun
blowing from the south-east and south had hauled round
after nightfall into the south-west. Just while I was
meditating, a puff came, caught the Hispaniola, and
forced her up into the current; and to my great joy, I felt
the hawser slacken in my grasp, and the hand by which
I held it dip for a second under water, t

With that I made my mind up, took out my gully,
opened it with my teeth, and cut one strand after another,
till the vessel only swung by two. Then I lay quiet,
waiting to sever these last when the strain should be once
more lightened by a breath of wind.

All this time I had heard the sound of loud voices
from the cabin; but, to say truth, my mind had been so
entirely taken up with other thoughts that I had scarcely
given ear. Now, however, when I had nothing else to
do, I began to pay more heed.

One I recognized for the coxswain's, Israel Hands,

MY SEA ADVENTURE 145

that h&d been Flint's gunner in former days. The other
was, of course, my friend of the red night-cap. Both
men were plainly the worse for drink, and they were still
drinking; for, even while I was listening, one of them,
with a drunken cry, opened the stern window and threw
out something, which I divined to be an empty bottle.
But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they were
furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones, and every
now and then there came forth such- an explosion as I
thought was sure to end in blows. But each time the
quarrel passed off, and the voices grumbled lower for a
while, until the next crisis came, and, in its turn, passed
away without result.

On shore, I could see the glow of the great camp fire
burning warmly through the shore-side trees. Someone
was singing, a dull, old, droning sailor's song, with a
droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, and seemingly
no end to it at all but the patience of the singer. I had
heard it on the voyage more than once, and remembered

these words:

" But one man of her crew alive,
What put to sea with seventy-five."

And I thought it w#s a ditty rather too dolefully appro-
priate for a company that had met such cruel losses
in the morning. But, indeed, from what I saw, all
these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed
on.

At last the breeze came; the schooner sidled and drew
nearer in the dark; I felt the hawser slacken once
more, and with a good, tough effort, cut the last fibres
through.

The breeze had but little action on the coracle, and I
was almost instantly swept against the bows of the His-
paniola. ^ At the same time the schooner began to turn

146 TREASURE ISLAND

upon her heel, spinning slowly, end for end, across the
current.

I wrought like a fiend, for I expected every moment
to be swamped; and since I found I could not push the
coracle directly off, I now shoved straight astern. At
length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour; and just
as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a light
cord that was trailing overboard across the stern bul-
warks. Instantly I grasped it.

Why I should have done so I can hardly say. It was
at first mere instinct; but once I had it in my h#nds and
found it fast, curiosity began to get the upper hand, and
I determined I should have one look through the cabin
window.

I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and, when
I judged myself near enough, rose at infinite risk to about
half my height, and thus commanded the roof and a slice
of the interior of the cabin.

By this time the schooner and her little consort were
gliding pretty swiftly through the water; indeed, we had
already fetched up level with the camp fire. The ship
was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the innumer-
able ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until
I got my eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend
why the watchmen had taken no alarm. One glance,
however, was sufficient; and it was only one glance that
I durst take from that unsteady skiff. It showed me
Hands and his companion locked together in deadly
wrestle, each with a hand upon the other's throat.

I dropped upon the thwart again, none too soon, for
I was near overboard. I could see nothing for the moment
but these two furious, encrimsoned faces, swaying to-
gether under the smoky lamp; and I shut my eyes to
let them grow once more familiar with the darkness.

The endless ballad had come to an end at l#st, and

MY SEA ADVENTURE 147

the whole diminished company about the camp fire had
broken into the chorus I had heard so often:

" Fifteen men on the dead man's chest

Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

I was just thinking how busy dnnk and the devil were
at that very moment in the cabin of the Hispaniola,
when I was surprised by a sudden lurch of the coracle.
At the game moment she yawed sharply and seemed to
change her course. The speed in the meantime had
strangely increased.

I opened my eyes at once. All round me were little
ripples, combing over with a sharp, bristling sound, and
slightly phosphorescent. The Hispaniola herself, a few
yards in whose wake I was still being whirled along,
seemed to stagger in her course, ^nd I saw her spars
tosr a little against the blackness of the night; nay, as
I looked longer, I made sure she also was wheeling to
the southward.

I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart jumped
against my ribs. There, right behind me, was the glow
of the camp fire. The current had turned at right angles,
sweeping round along with it the tall schooner and the
little dancing coracle; ever quickening, ever bubbling
higher, ever muttering louder, it went spinning through
the narrows for the open sea.

Suddenly the schooner in front of me gave a violent
yaw, turning perhaps through twenty degrees; and
almost at the same moment one shout followed another
from on board; I could hear feet pounding on the com-
panion ladder; and I knew that the two drunkards had
at last been interrupted in their quarrel and awakened
to a sense of their disaster.

148 TREASURE ISLAND

I lay down flat in the bottom of that wretched skiff,
and devoutly recommended my spirit to its Maker. At
the end of the straits I made sure we must fall into
some bar of raging breakers, where all my troubles would
be ended speedily; and though I could, perhaps, bear
to die, I could not bear to look upon my fate as it ap-
oroached.

So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to
and fro upon the billows, now and again wetted with
flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at the
next plunge. Gradually weariness grew upon me; a
numbness, an occasional stupor, fell upon my mind
even in the midst of my terrors; until sleep at last super-
vened, and in my sea-tossed coracle I lay and dreamed
of home and the old " Admiral Benbow ".

CHAPTER XXIV

THE CRUISE OF THE CORACLE

It was broad day when I awoke, and found myself toss-
ing at the south-west end of Treasure Island. The sun
was up, but was still hid from me behind the great bulk
of the Spy-glass, which on this side descended almost
to the sea in formidable cliffs.

Haulbowline Head and Mizzen-mast Hill were at
my elbow; the hill bare and dark, the head bound with
cliffs forty or fifty feet high, and fringed with great
masses of fallen rock. I was scarce a quarter of a mile
to seaward, and it was my first thought to paddle in and
land.

That notion was soon given over. Among the fallen
rocks the breakers spouted and bellowed; loud reverbera-

MY SEA ADVENTURE 149

tions, Tieavy sprays flying and falling, succeeded one
another from second to second; and I saw myself, if
I ventured nearer, dashed to death upon the rough shore,
or spending my strength in vain to scale the beetling
crags.

Nor was that all; for crawling together on flat tables
of rock, or letting themselves drop into the sea with loud
reports, I beheld huge slimy monsters soft snails, as
it were, of incredible bigness two or three score of them
together, making the rocks to echo with their barkings.

I have understood since that they were sea-lions, and
entirely harmless. But the look of them, added to the
difficulty of the shore and the high running of the surf,
was more than enough to disgust me of that landing-
place. I felt willing rather to starve at sea than to con-
front such perils.

In the meantime I had a better chance, as I supposed,
before me. North of Haulbowline Head, the land runs
in a long way, leaving, at low tide, a long stretch of
yellow sand. To the north of that, again, there comes
another cape Cape of the Woods, as it was marked
upon the chart buried in tall green pines, which de-
scended to the margin of the sea.

I remembered what Silver had said about the current
that sets northward along the whole west coast of Treasure
Island; and seeing from my position that I was already
under its influence, I preferred to leave Haulbowline
Head behind me, and reserve my strength for an attempt
to land upon the kindlier-looking Cape of the Woods.

There was a great, smooth swell upon the sea. The
wind blowing steady and gentle from the south, there
was no contrariety between that and the current, and the
billows rose and fell unbroken.

Had it been otherwise, I must long ago have perished;
but as it was, it is surprising how easily and securely my

150 TREASURE ISLAND

little and light boat cOuld ride. Often, as I still lay at
the bottom, and kept no more than an eye above the
gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving close
above me; yet the coracle would but bounce a little,
dance as if on springs, and subside on the other side into
the trough as lightly as a bird.

I began after a little to grow very bold, and sat up to
try my skill at paddling. But even a small change in
the disposition of the weight will produce violent changes
in the behaviour of a coracle. And I had hardly moved
before the boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing
movement, ran straight down a slope of water so steep
that it made me giddy, and struck her nose, with a spout
of spray, deep into the side of the next wave.

I was drenched and terrified, and fell instantly back
into my old position, whereupon the coracle seemed to
find her head again, and led me as softly as before among
the billows. It was plain she was not to be interfered
with, and at that rate, since I could in no way influence
her course, what hope had I left of reaching land?

I began to be horribly frightened, but I kept my head
for all that. First, moving with all care, I gradually
baled out the coracle with my sea-cap; then getting my
eye once more above the gunwale, P set myself to study
how it was she managed to slip so quietly through the
rollers.

I found each wave, instead of the big, smooth, glossy
mountain it looks from shore, or from a vessel's deck,
was for all the world like any range of hills on the dry
land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys. The
coracle, left to herself, turning from side to side, threaded,
so to speak, her way through these lower parts, and
avoided the steep slopes and higher, toppling summits of
the wave.

" Well, now/' thought I to myself, " it is plain I must

MY SEA ADVENTURE 151

lie wKere I am, and not disturb* the balance; but it is
plain, also, that I can put the paddle over the side, and
from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove or
two towards land." No sooner thought upon than done.
There I lay on my elbows, in the most trying attitude^
and every now and again gave a weak stroke or two to
turn her head to shore.

It was very tiring, and slow work, yet I did visibly
gain ground; and, as we drew near the Cape of the
Woods, though I saw I must infallibly miss that point,
I had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was,
indeed, close in. I could see the cool, green tree-tops
swaying together in the breeze, and I felt sure I should
make the next promontory without fail.

It was high time, for I now began to be tortured with
thirst. The glow of the sun from above, its thousandfold
reflection from the waves, the sea- water that fell and
dried upon me, caking my very lips with salt, combined
to make my throat burn and my brain ache. The sight
of the trees so near at hand had almost made me sick
with longing; but the current had soon carried me past
the point; and, as the next reach of sea opened out, I
beheld a sight that changed the nature of my thoughts.

Right in front of me, not half a mile away, I beheld
the Hispaniola under sail. I made sure, of course, that
I should be taken; but I was so distressed for want of
water that I scarce knew whether to be glad or sorry at
the thought; and, long before I had come to a conclusion,
surprise had taken entire possession of my mind, and I
could do nothing but stare and wonder.

The Hispaniola was under her main-sail and two jibs,
and the beautiful white canvas shone in the sun like snow
or silver. When I first sighted her, all her sails were
drawing; f she was lying a course about north-west; and
I presupied the men on board were going round the

152 TREASURE ISLAND

island on their way hack to the anchorage. Presently
she began to fetch more and more to the westward, so
that I thought they had sighted me and were going about
in chase. At last, however, she fell right into the wind's
eye, was taken dead aback, and stood there a while help-
less, with her sails shivering.

" Clumsy fellows," said I; " they must still be drunk
as owls." And I thought how Captain Smollett would
have set them skipping.

Meanwhile the schooner gradually fell off, and filled
again upon another tack, sailed swiftly for a minute or
so, and brought up once more dead in the wind's eye.
Again and again was this repeated. To and fro, up and
down, north, south, east, and west, the Hispaniola sailed
by swoops and dashes, and at each repetition ended as
she had begun, with idly-flapping canvas. It became
plain to me that nobody was steering. And, if so, where
were the men? Either they were dead drunk, or had
deserted her, I thought, and perhaps if I could get on
board, I might return the vessel to her captain.

The current was bearing coracle and schooner south-
ward at an equal rate. As for the latter 's sailing, it was
so wild and intermittent, and she hung each time so long
in irons, that she certainly gained nothing, if she did not
even lose. If only I dared to sit up and paddle, I made
sure that I could overhaul her. The scheme had an air of
adventure that inspired me, and the thought of the water-
breaker beside the fore companion doubled my growing
courage.

Up I got, was welcomed almost instantly by another
cloud of spray, but this time stuck to my purpose; and
set myself, with all my strength and caution, to paddle
after the unsteered Hispaniola. Once I shipped a sea
so heavy that I had to stop and bale, with my heart
fluttering like a bird; but gradually I got into the way of

MY SEA ADVENTURE 153

the thing, and guided my coracle 'among the waves, with
only now and then a blow upon her bows and a dash of
foam in my face.

I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could
see the brass glisten on the tiller as it banged about; and
still no soul appeared upon her decks. I could not choose
but suppose she was deserted. If not, the men were
lying drunk below, where I might batten them down,
perhaps, and do what I chose with the ship.

For some time she had been doing the worst thing
possible for me standing still. She headed nearly due
south, yawing, of course, all the time. Each time she
fell off her sails partly filled, and these brought her, in a
moment, right to the wind again. I have said this was
the worst thing possible for me; for helpless as she looked
in this situation, with the canvas cracking like cannon,
and the blocks trundling and banging on the deck, she
still continued to run away from me, not only with the
speed of the current, but by the whole amount of her
leeway, which was naturally great.

But now, at last, I had my chance. The breeze fell,
for some seconds, very low, and the current gradually
turning her, the Hispaniola revolved slowly round her
centre, and at last presented me her stern, with the cabin
window still gaping open, and the lamp over the table
still burning on into the day. The main-sail hung drooped
like a banner. She was stock-still, but for the current.

For the last little while I had even lost; but now
redoubling my efforts, I began once more to overhaul
the chase.

I was not a hundred yards from her when the wind
came again in a clap; she filled on the port tack, and was
off again, stooping and skimming like a swallow.

My first impulse was one of despair, but my second
was towards joy. Round she came, till she was broadside

i 54 TREASURE ISLAND

on to me round stilfctill she had covered a half, and
then two-thirds, and then three-quarters of the distance
that separated us. I could see the waves boiling white
under her forefoot. Immensely tall she looked to me
from my low station in the coracle.

And then, of a sudden, I began to comprehend. I had
scarce time to think scarce time to act and save myself.
I was on the summit of one swell when the schooner
came stooping over the next. The bowsprit was over
my head. I sprang to my feet, and leaped, stamping
the coracle under water. With one hand I caught the
jib-boom, while my foot was lodged between the stay
and the brace; and as I still clung there panting, a dull
blow told me that the schooner had charged down upon
and struck the coracle, and that I was left without retreat
on the Hispaniola.

CHAPTER XXV

I STRIKE THE JOLLY ROGER

I had scarce gained a position on the bowsprit, when
the flying jib flapped and filled upon She other tack, with
a report like a gun. The schooner trembled to her keel
under the reverse; but next moment, the other sails
still drawing, the jib flapped back again, and hung idle.

This had nearly tossed me off into the sea; and now
I lost no time, crawled back along the bowsprit, and
tumbled head-foremost on the deck.

I was on the lee side of the forecastle, and the main-
sail, which was still drawing, concealed from me a certain
portion of the after-deck. Not a soul was to be seen.
The planks, which had not been swabbed since the mutiny,
bore the print of many feet; and an empty bottle^ broken

MY SEA ADVENTURE 155

by the neck, tumbled to and fro 'like a live thing in the
scuppers.

Suddenly the Hispaniola came right into the wind.
The jibs behind me cracked aloud; the rudder slammedr
to; the whole ship gave a sickening heave and shudder,
and at the same moment the main-boom swung inboard,
the sheet groaning in the blocks, and showed me the lee!
after-deck.

There were the two watchmen, sure enough: red-cap on
his back, as stiff as a handspike, with his arms stretched
out like -those of a crucifix, and his teeth showing through
his open lips; Israel Hands propped against the bulwarks,
his chin on his chest, his hands lying open before him on
the deck, his face as white, under its tan, as a tallow
candle.

For a while the ship kept bucking and sidling like
a vicious horse, the sails filling, now on one tack, now
on another, and the boom swinging to and fro till the
mast groaned aloud under the strain. Now and again,
too, there would come a cloud of light sprays over the
bulwark, and a heavy blow of the ship's bows against
the swell: so much heavier weather was made of it
by this great rigged ship than by my home-made, lop-
sided coracle, now one to the bottom of the sea.

At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and
fro; but what was ghastly to behold neither his
attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing grin was anyway
disturbed by this rough usage. At every jump, too,
Hands appeared still more to sink into himself and settle
down upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the farther
out, and the whole body canting towards the stern, so
that his face became, little by little, hid from me; and
at last I could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed
ringlet of one whisker.

At the same time, I observed, around both of them,

156 TREASURE ISLAND

splashes of dark blood 1 upon the planks, and began to
feel sure that they had killed each other in their drunken
wrath.

While I was thus looking and wondering, in a calm
moment, when the ship was still, Israel Hands turned
partly round, and, with a low moan, writhed himself
>ack to the position in which I had seen him first. The
moan, which told of pain and deadly weakness, and the
way in which his jaw hung open, went right to my heart.
But when I remembered the talk I had overheard from
the apple barrel, all pity left me.

I walked aft until I reached the main-mast.

" Come aboard, Mr. Hands," I said ironically.

He rolled his eyes round heavily; but he was too far
gone to express surprise. All he could do was to utter
one word, " Brandy ".

It occurred to me there was no time to lose; and, dodg-
ing the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I
slipped aft, and down the companion-stairs into the cabin.

It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly
fancy. All the lockfast places had been broken open in
quest of the chart. The floor was thick with mutt, where
ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading
in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all
painted in clear white, and beaded round with gilt, bore
a pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty bottles clinked
together in corners to the rolling of the ship. One of
the doctor's medical books lay open on the table, half
of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for pipelights. In
the midst of all this the lamp still cast a smoky glow,
obscure and brown as umber.

I went into the cellar; all the barrels were gone, and
of the bottles a most surprising number had been drunk
out and thrown away. Certainly, since the mutirty began,
not a man of them could ever have been sober. f

MY SEA ADVENTURE 157

Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy
left, for Hands; and for myself I routed out some biscuit,
some pickled fruits, a great bunch of raisins, and a piece
of cheese. With these I came on deck, put my own stock
behind the rudder-head, and well out of the coxswain's
reach, went forward to the water-breaker, and had a good,
deep drink of water, and then, and not till then, gave
Hands the brandy.

He must have drunk a gill before he took the bottle
from his mouth.

" Ay,"said he, " by thunder, but I wanted some o'
that!"

I had sat down already in my own corner and begun to
eat.

" Much hurt?" I asked him.

He grunted, or, rather, I might say, he barked.

" If that doctor was aboard," he said, " I'd be right
enough in a couple of turns; but I don't have no manner
of luck, you see, and that's what's the matter with pie.
As for that swab, he's good and dead, he is," he added,
indicating the man with the red cap. " He warn't no sea-
man, anyhow. And where mought you have come from?"

" Well," said I, " I've come aboard to take possession
of this ship, Mr. Hahds; and you'll please regard me as
your captain until further notice."

He looked at me sourly enough, but said nothing.
Some of the colour had come back into his cheeks, though
he still fooked very sick, and still continued to slip out
and settle down as the ship banged about.

" By the bye," I continued, " I can't have these colours,
Mr. Hands; and, by your leave, I'll strike 'em. Better
none than these."

And, again dodging the boom, I ran to the colour lines,
handed dctam their cursed black flag, and chucked it
overboard.

i 5 8 TREASURE ISLAND

" God save the King!" said I, waving my cap; " and
there's an end to Captain Silver!"

He watched me keenly and slyly, his chin all the while
on his breast.

" I reckon," he said at last " I reckon, Cap'n Hawkins,
you'll kind of want to get ashore, now. S'pose we
talks."

" Why, yes," says I, " with all my heart, Mr. Hands.
Say on." And I went back to my meal with a good
appetite.

" This man," he began, nodding feebly at the corpse
" O'Brien were his name a rank Irelander this man
and me got the canvas on her, meaning for to sail her
back. Well, he's dead now, he is as dead as bilge;
and who's to sail this ship I don't see. Without I gives
you a hint, you ain't that man, as far 's I can tell. Now,
look here, you gives me food and drink, and a old scarf
or ankercher to tie my wound up, you do; and I'll tell
you how to sail her; and that's about square all round,
I take it."

" I'll tell you one thing," says I: " I'm not going back
to Captain Kidd's anchorage. I mean to get into North
Inlet, and beach her quietly there."

" To be sure you did," he cried. " Why, I ain't sich
an infernal lubber, after all. I can see, can't I? I've
tried my fling, I have, and I've lost, and it's you has the
wind of me. North Inlet? Why, I haven't no ch'ice,
not I! I'd help you sail her up to Execution Dock, by
thunder! so I would."

Well, as it seemed to me, there was some sense in this.
We struck our bargain on the spot. In three minutes I
had the Hispaniola sailing easily before the wind along the
coast of Treasure Island, with good hopes of turning the
northern point ere noon, and beating down again as far
as North Inlet before high water, when we might beach

MY SEA ADVENTURE 159

her safely, and wait till the subsiding tide permitted us
to land.

Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest,
where I got a soft silk handkerchief of my mother 's,
With this, and with my aid, Hands bound up the great
bleeding stab he had received in the thigh, and after he
had eaten a little and had a swallow or two 'nore of the 1
brandy, he began to pick up visibly, sat sUaighter up,
spoke louder and clearer, and looked in every way another
man.

The breeze served us admirably. We skimmed before
it like a bird, the coast of the island flashing by, and the
view changing every minute. Soon we were past the
high lands and bowling beside low, sandy country,
sparsely dotted with dwarf pines, and soon we were
beyond that again, and had turned the corner of the rocky
hill that ends the island on the north.

I was greatly elated with my new command, and pleased
with the bright, sunshiny weather and these different
prospects of the coast. I had now plenty of watpr and
good things to eat, and my conscience, which had smitten
me hard for my desertion, was quieted by the great con-
quest I had made. I should, I think, have had nothing
left me to desire but for the eyes of the coxswain as they
followed me derisively about the deck, and the odd smile
that appeared continually on his face. It was a smi e that
had in it something both of pain and weakness a haggard,
old man's smile; but there was, besides that, a grain of
derision, a shadow of treachery, in his expression as he
craftily watched, and watched, and watched me at my
work.

i6o TREASURE ISLAND

CHAPTER XXVI

ISRAEL HANDS

The wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the
.west. We could run so much the easier from the north-
east cornei ^f the island to the mouth of the North Inlet.
Only, as we had no power to anchor, and dared not beach
her till the tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung
on our hands. The coxswain told me how to lay the
ship to; after a good many trials I succeeded, and we both
sat in silence, over another meal.

" Cap'n," said he, at length, with that same uncom-
fortable smile, " here's my old shipmate, O'Brien; s'pose
you was to heave him overboard. I ain't partic'lar as a
rule, and I don't take no blame for settling his hash; but
I don't reckon him ornamental, now, do you?"

"I'm not strong enough, and I don't like the job; and
there he lies, for me," said I.

" This here's an unlucky ship this Hispaniola^ Jim,"
he went on, blinking. " There's a power of men have
been killed in this Hispaniola a sight o' poor seamen dead
and gone since you and me took ship<o Bristol. I never
seen sich dirty luck, not I. There was this here O'Brien,
now he's dead, ain't he? Well, now, I'm no scholar,
and you're a lad as can read and figure; and, to put it
straight, do you take it as a dead man is dead for good,
or do he come alive again?"

" You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit;
you must know that already," I replied. " O'Brien
there is in another world, and maybe watching us."

" Ah!" says he. " Well, that's unfort'nate appears as
if killing parties was a waste of time. Howsomever
sperrits don't reckon for much, by what I've seen, I'll

MY SEA ADVENTURE 161

chance*it with the sperrits, Jim. .^nd now, you've spoke
up free, and I'll take it kind if you'd step down into that
there cabin and get me a well, a shiver my timbers! I
can't hit the name on't; well, you get me a bottle of wine,
Jim this here brandy's too strong for my head."

Now, the coxswain's hesitation seemed to be unnatural;
and as for the notion of his preferring wine to brandy,
I entirely disbelieved it. The whole story was a pretext.
He wanted me to leave the deck so much was plain;
but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. His
eyes never met mine; they kept wandering to and fro,
up and clown, now with a look to the sky, now with a
flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All the time he
kept smiling, and putting his tongue out in the most
guilty, embarrassed manner, so that a child could have
told that he was bent on some deception. I was prompt
with my answer, however, for I saw where my advantage
lay; and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could
easily conceal my suspicions to the end.

" Some wine?" I said. '' Far better. Will yoti have
white or red?"

" Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me,
shipmate," he replied; " so it's strong, and plenty of it,
what's the odds?" ,

" All right," I answered. " I'll bring you port, Mr.
Hands. But I'll have to dig for it."

With that I scuttled down the companion with all the
noise Would, slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along the
sparred gallery, mounted the forecastle ladder, and popped
my head out of the fore companion. I knew he would
not expect to see me there; yet I took every precaution
possible; and certainly the worst of my suspicions proved
too true.

He had,, risen from his position to his hands and knees;
and, though his leg obviously hurt him pretty sharply

(D419) F

i6a TREASURE ISLAND

when he moved for I^could hear him stifle a groseti yet
it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailed himself
across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the
port scuppers, and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long
Knife, or rather a short dirk, discoloured to the hilt with
blood. He looked upon it for a moment, thrusting forth
Jus underjaw, tried the point upon his hand, and then,
hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, trundled
back again into his old place against the bulwark.

This was all that I required to know. Israel could
move about; he was now armed; and if he had been at so
much trouble to get rid of me, it was plain that I was
meant to be the victim. What he would do afterwards
whether he would try to crawl right across the island
from North Inlet to the camp among the swamps, or
whether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his own
comrades might come first to help him, was, of course,
more than I could say.

Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point,
since ih that our interests jumped together, and that was
in the "disposition of the schooner. We both desired to
have her stranded safe enough, in a sheltered place, and
so that, when the time came, she could be got off again
with as little labour and danger as ngight be; and until
that was done I considered that my life would certainly
be spared.

While I was thus turning the business over in my
mind, I had not been idle with my body. I hai stolen
back to the cabin, slipped once more into my shoes, and
laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and now,
with this for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the
deck.

Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in
a bundle, and with his eyelids lowered, as though he
were too weak to bear the light* He looked up, however,

MY SEA ADVENTURE 163

at my cbming, knocked the neck off the bottle, like a man
who had done the same thing often, and took a good
swig, with his favourite toast of " Here's luck!" Then
he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of
tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.

" Cut me a junk o* that," says he, " for I haven't no
knife, and hardly strength enough, so be as I had. Ah,
Jim, Jim, I reckon I've missed stays! Cut me a quid,
as'll likely be the last, lad; for I'm for my long home
and no mistake."

" Well," said I, " I'll cut you some tobacco; but if
I was you and thought myself so badly, I would go to
my prayers, like a Christian man."

" Why?" said he. " Now, you tell me why/'

" Why?" I cried. " You were asking me just now
about the dead. You've broken your trust; you've lived
in sin and lies and blood; there's a man you killed lying
at your feet this moment; and you ask me why! For
God's mercy, Mr. Hands, that's why."

I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk
he had hidden in his pocket, and designed, in *his ill
thoughts, to end me with. He, for his part, took a great
draught of the wine, and spoke with the most unusual
solemnity. $

" For thirty years," he said, " I've sailed the seas, and
seen good and bad, better and worse, fair weather and
foul, provisions running out, knives going, and what
not. V/ell, now I tell you, I never seen good come o*
goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men
don't bite; them's my views amen, so be it. And now,
you look here," he added, suddenly changing, his tone
" we've had about enough of this foolery. The tide's
made good enough by now. You just take my orders,
Cap'n Hawkins, and we'll sail slap in and be done with
it."

164 TREASURE ISLAND

All told, we had scarce two mile* to run; but tfie navi-
gation was delicate . the entrance to this northern anchor-
age was not only narrow and shoal, but lay east and west,
so that the schooner must be nicely handled to be got in.
'l think I wa$ a good, prompt subaltern, and I am very
sure that Hands was an excellent pilot; for we went
about and about, and dodged in, shaving the banks,
with a certainty and a neatness that were a pleasure to
behold.

Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land
closed around us. The shores of North Inlet, were as
thickly wooded as those of the southern anchorage; but
the space was longer and narrower, and more like, what
in truth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us,
at the southern end we saw the wreck of a ship in the
last stages of dilapidation. It had been a great vessel of
three masts, but had lain so long exposed to the injuries of
the weather, that it was hung about with great webs of
dripping seaweed, and on the deck of it shore bushes
had taken root, and now flourished thick with flowers.
It was" a sad sight, but it showed us that the anchorage
was calm.

" Now," said Hands, " look there; there's a pet bit
for to beach a ship in. Fine flat sand, never a catspaw,
trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing like a garding
on that old ship."

" And once beached," I inquired, " how shall we get
her off again?" * J

" Why, so," he replied: " you take a line ashore
there on the other side at low water: take a turn about
one o j them big pines; bring it back, take a turn round
the capstan, and lie-to for the tide. Come high water,
all hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as
sweet as natur'. And now, boy, you stand by. We're
near the bit now, and she's too much way on her. Star-

MY SEA ADVENTURE 165

board a little so steady starboard larboard a little
steady steady! ' '

So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly
obeyed; till, all of a sudden, he cried, " Now, my hearty,
luff!" And I put the helm hard up, and the Hispaniola
swung round rapidly, and ran stem on for the low-wooded
shore.

The excitement of these last manoeuvres had some-
what interfered with the watch I had kept hitherto,
sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even then I was
still so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch,
that I had quite forgot the peril that hung over my head,
and stood craning over the starboard bulwarks and
watching the ripples spreading wide before the bows.
I might have fallen without a struggle for my life, had
not a sudden disquietude seized upon me, and made me
turn my head. Perhaps I had heard a creak, or seen his
shadow moving with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was
an instinct like a cat's; but, sure enough, when I looked
round, there was Hands, already half-way towards me,
with the dirk in his right hand.

We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes
met; but while mine was the shrill cry of terror, his was
a roar of fury like ?, charging bull's. At the same instant
he threw himself forward, and I leapt sideways towards
the bows. As I did so, I left hold of the tiller, which
sprang sharp to leeward; and 1 think this saved my life,
for it^tftick Hands across the chest, and stopped him,
for the moment, dead.

Before he could recover, I was safe out of the corner
where he had me trapped, with all the deck to dodge
about. Just forward of the main-mast I stopped, drew
a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he had
already tiirned and was once more coming directly after
me, an4 drew the trigger. The hammer fell, but there

166 TREASURE ISLAND

followed neither flash ^ior sound; the priming w?is use-
less with sea-water. I cursed myself for my neglect.
Why had not I, long before, reprimed and reloaded my
only weapons? Then I should not have been, as now,
a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher.

Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could
move, his grizzled hair tumbling over his face, and his
face itself as red as a red ensign with his haste and fury.
I had no time to try my other pistol, nor, indeed, much
inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One
thing I saw plainly: I must not simply retreat before
him, or he would speedily hold me boxed into ttie bows,
as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me in the
stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of the
blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on this
side of eternity. I placed my palms against the main-
mast, which was of a goodish bigness, and waited, every
nerve upon the stretch.

Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also paused; and
a monient or two passed in feints on his part, and cor-
responding movements upon mine. It was such a game
as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black
Hill Cove; but never before, you may be sure, with
such a wildly beating heart as no^. Still, as I say,
it was a boy's game, and I thought I could hold my own
at it, against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh.
Indeed, my courage had begun to rise so high that
I allowed myself a few darting thoughts on wh<i w would
be the end of the affair; and while I saw certainly that
I could spin it out for long, I saw no hope of any ultimate
escape.

Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the Hispaniola
struck, staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and
then, swift as a blow, canted over to the port side, till
the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees, and

MY SEA ADVENTURE 167

about a puncheon of water spla^ied into the scupper
holes, and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark.

We were both of us capsized in a second, and both
of us rolled, almost together, into the scuppers; the dead
red-cap, with his arms still spread out, tumbling stiffly
after us. So near were we, indeed, that my head came
against the coxswain's foot with a crack that made my
teeth rattle. Blow and all, I was the first afoot again;
for Hands had got involved with the dead body. The
sudden canting of the ship had made the deck no place
for running on; I had to find some new way of escape,
and that upon the instant, for my foe was almost touching
me. Quick as thought I sprang into the mizzen shrouds,
rattled up hand over hand, and did not draw a breath
till I was seated on the cross-trees.

I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck
not half a foot below me, as I pursued my upward flight;
and there stood Israel Hands with his mouth open and
his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue of surprise
and disappointment. *

Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in
changing the priming of my pistol, and then, having one
ready for service, and to make assurance doubly sure, I
proceeded to draw jhe load of the other, and recharge it
afresh from the beginning.

My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he
began to see the dice going against him; and after an
obviou^hesitation, he also hauled himself heavily into the
shrouds, and, with the dirk in his teeth, began slowly and
painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and
groans to haul his wounded leg behind him; and I had
quietly finished my arrangements before he was much
more than a third of the way up. Then, with a pistol
in either Jiand, I addressed him.

more step, Mr. Hands," said I, " and I'll blow

i68 TREASURE ISLAND

your brains out! Degd men don't bite, you krfow," I
added, with a chuckle.

He stopped instantly. I could see by the working of
his face that he was trying to think, and the process was
so slow and laborious that, in my new-found security, I
laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two, he spoke,
his face still wearing the same expression of extreme
perplexity. In order to speak he had to take the dagger
from his mouth, but, in all else, he remained unmoved.

" Jim," says he, " I reckon we're fouled, you and me,
and we'll have to sign articles. I'd have had you but for
that there lurch: but I don't have no luck, not I; and I
reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard, you see,
for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim."

I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as
conceited as a cock upon a wall, when, all in a breath,
back went his right hand over his shoulder. Something
sang like an arrow through the air: I felt a blow and then
a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to
the makt. In the horrid pain and surprise of the moment
I scarce can say it was by my own volition, and I am
sure it was without a conscious aim both my pistols
went off, and both escaped out of my hands. They did
not fall alone; with a choked cry, the*coxswain loosed his
grasp upon the shrouds, and plunged head first into the
water.

CHAPTER XXVII

" PIECES OF EIGHT "

Owing to the cant of the vessel, the masts hung far out
over the water, and from my perch on the cro,ss-trees I
had nothing below me but the surface of the bay. .Hands,

MY SEA ADVENTURE 169

who was not so far up, was, in consequence, near to the
ship, and fell between me and the bulwarks. He rose
once to the surface in a lather of foam and blood, and
then sank again for good. As the water settled, I could
see him lying huddled together on the clean, bright sand
in the shadow of the vessel's sides. A fish or two whipped
past his body. Sometimes, by the quivering of the water
he appeared to move a little, as if he were trying to rise.
But he was dead enough, for all that, being both shot and
drowned, and was food for fish in the very place where
he had designed my slaughter.

I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick,
faint, and terrified. The hot blood was running over my
back and chest. The dirk, where it had pinned my
shoulder to the mast, seemed to burn like a hot iron; yet
it was not so much these real sufferings that distressed
me, for these, it seemed to me, I could bear without a
murmur; it was the horror I had upon my mind of falling
from the cross-trees into that still green water, beside
the body of the coxswain.

I clung with both hands till my nails ached, and* I shut
my eyes as if to cover up the peril. Gradually my mind
came back again, my pulses quieted down to a more
natural time, andul was once more in possession of
myself.

It was my first thought to pluck forth the dirk; but
either it stuck too hard or my nerve failed me; and I
desistvd with a violent shudder. Oddly enough, that
very shudder did the business. The knife, in fact, had
come the nearest in the world to missing me altogether;
it held me by a mere pinch of skin, and this the shudder
tore away. The blood ran down the faster, to be sure;
but I was my own master again, and only tacked to the
mast by vny coat and shirt.
"These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and

(D419) F2

170 TREASURE ISLAND

then regained the deok by the starboard shroudS. For
nothing in the world would I have again ventured, shaken
as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds, from which
.Israel had so lately fallen.

I went below, and did what I could for my wound; it
pained me a good deal, and still bled freely; but it was
neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly gall me
when I used my arm. Then I looked around me, and
as the ship was now, in a sense, my own, I began to think
of clearing it from its last passenger the dead man,
O'Brien.

He had pitched, as I have said, against the bulwarks,
where he lay like some horrible, ungainly sort of puppet;
life-size, indeed, but how different from life's colour or
life's comeliness! In that position I could easily have
my way with him; and as the habit of tragical adventures
had worn off almost all my terror for the dead, I took him
by the waist as if he had been a sack of bran, and with
one good heave tumbled him overboard. He went in
with a sounding plunge; the red cap came off, and re-
mained floating on the surface; and as soon as the splash
subsided, I could see him and Israel lying side by side,
both wavering with the tremulous movement of the
water. O'Brien, though still quite ta young man, was
very bald. There he lay, with that bald head across the
knees of the man who had killed him, and the quick
fishes steering to and fro over both.

I was now alone upon the ship; the tide had ju^^irned.
The sun was within so few degrees of setting that already
the shadow of the pines upon the western shore began
to reach right across the anchorage, and fall in patterns
on the deck. The evening breeze had sprung up, and
though it was well warded off by the hill with the two
peaks upon the east, the cordage had begun sing a
little softly to itself and the idle sails to rattle to ^nd fro.

MY SEA ADVENTURE 171

I be^an to see a danger to the sh : p. The jibs I speedily
doused and brought tumbling to the deck; but the main-
sail was a harder matter. Of course, when the schooner
canted over, the boom had swung out-board, and th$
cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under water.
I thought this made it still more dangerous; yet the strain
was so heavy that I half feared to meddle. At last I gc"
my knife and cut the halyards. The peak dropped
instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon
the water; and since, pull as I liked, I could not budge the
downhaul, that was the extent of what I could accomplish.
For the rest, the Hispaniola must trust to luck, like myself.

By this time the whole anchorage had fallen into
shadow the rays, I remember, falling through a glade
of the wood, and shining bright as jewels, on the flowery
mantle of the wreck. It began to be chill; the tide was
rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and
more on her beam-ends.

I scrambled forward and looked over. It seemed
shallow enough, and holding the cut hawser m both
hands for a last security, I let myself drop softly over-
board. The water scarcely reached my waist; the sand
was firm and covered with ripple marks, and I waded
ashore in great spirits, leaving the Hispaniola on her side,
with her main-sail trailing wide upon the surface of the
bay. About the same time the sun went fairly down,
and the breeze whistled low in the dusk among the
tossing pines.

At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned
thence empty-handed. There lay the schooner, clear at
last from buccaneers and ready for our own men to board
and get to sea again. I had nothing nearer my fancy than
to get home to the stockade and boast of my achievements.
Possibly, I might be blamed a bit for my truantry, but
tlie recapture of the Hispaniola was a clenching answer,

i 7 2 TREASURE ISLAND

and I hoped that eve$ Captain Smollett would tonfess
I had not lost my time.

So thinking, and in famous spirits, I began to set my
face homeward for the block-house and my companions.
i remembered that the most easterly of the rivers which
drain into Captain Kidd's anchorage ran from the two-
peaked hill upon my left; and I bent my course in that
direction that I might pass the stream while it was small
The wood was pretty open, and keeping along the lower
spurs, I had soon turned the corner of that hill, and not
long after waded to the mid-calf across the water-course.

This brought me near to where I had encountered Ben
Gunn, the maroon; and I walked more circumspectly >
keeping an eye on every side. The dusk had come nigh
hand completely, and, as I opened out the cleft between
the two peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow against
the sky, where, as I judged, the man of the island was
cooking his supper before a roaring fire. And yet I won-
dered, in my heart, that he should show himself so care-
less. POT if I could see this radiance, might it not reach
the eyes of Silver himself where he camped upon the
shore among the marshes?

Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do
to guide myself even roughly towards my destination;
the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on my right
hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few and
pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept
tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy pit*i>,

Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me. I looked
up; a pale glimmer of moonbeams had alighted on the
summit of the Spy-glass, and soon after I saw something
broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees,
and knew the moon had risen.

With this to help me, I passed rapidly o\er what
remained to me of my journey; and, sometimes walking,

MY SEA ADVENTURE 173

sometimes running, impatiently drew near to the stockade.
Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before it,
I was not so thoughtless but that I slackened my pace and
went a trifle warily. It would have been a poor end of
my adventures to get shot down by my own party in
mistake.

The moon was climbing higher and higher; its light
began to fall here and there in masses through the more
open districts of the wood; and right in front of me a
glow of a different colour appeared among the trees.
It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little
darkened as it were the embers of a bonfire smoulder-
ing.

For the life of me, I could not think what it might
be.

At last I came right down upon the borders of the
clearing. The western end was already steeped in moon-
shine: the rest, and the block-house itself, still lay in
a black shadow, chequered with long, silvery streaks
of light. On the other side of the house an immense fire
had burned itself into clear embers and shed a 'steady,
red reverberation, contrasted strongly with the mellow
paleness of the moon. There was not a soul stirring,
nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze.

I stopped, with much wonder in my heart, and perhaps
a little terror also. It had not been our way to build great
fires; we were, indeed, by the captain's orders, some-
what niggardly of firewood; and I began to fear that
something had gone wrong while I was absent.

I stole round by the eastern end, keeping close in
shadow, and at a convenient place, where the darkness
was thickest, crossed the palisade.

To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and
knees, ar\d crawled, without a sound, towards the corner
cf die house. As I drew nearer, my heart was suddenly

174 TREASURE ISLAND

and greatly lightened. It is not a pleasant noise in itself,
and I have often complained of it at other times; but
just then it was like music to hear my friends snoring
together so loud and peaceful in their sleep. The sea-
cry of the watch, that beautiful " All's well," never fell
more reassuringly on my ear.

ir In the meantime, there was no doubt of one thing:
they kept an infamous bad watch. If it had been Silver
and his lads that were now creeping in on them, not
a soul would have seen daybreak. That was what it
was, thought I, to have the captain wounded; and again
I blamed myself sharply for leaving them in that danger
with so few to mount guard.

By this time I got to the door and stood up. All was
dark within, so that I could distinguish nothing by the
eye. As for sounds, there was the steady drone of the
snorers, and a small occasional noise, a flickering or
pecking that I could in no way account for.

With my arms before me I walked steadily in. I should
lie dowh in my own place (I thought, with a silent chuckle)
and enjoy their faces when they found me in the morning.

My foot struck something yielding it was a sleeper's
leg; and he turned and groaned, but without awaking.

And then, all of a sudden, a shrity voice broke forth
out of the darkness:

" Pieces of eight! pieces of eight! pieces of eight!
pieces of eight! pieces of eight!" and so forth, with-
out pause or change, like the clacking of a tiny mife^,

Silver's green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom
I had heard pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, keeping
better watch than any human being, who thus announced
my arrival with her wearisome refrain.

I had no time left me to recover. At the sharp, clipping
tone of the parrot, the sleepers awoke and sprang up;
and with a mighty oath, the voice of Silver cried: ***.

MY SEA ADVENTURE 175

" Who goes?"

I turned to run, struck violently against one person,
recoiled, and ran full into the arms of a second, who,
for his part, closed upon and held me tight. t

" Bring a torch, Dick," said Silver, when my capture
was thus assured.

And one of the men left the log-house and presently
returned with a lighted brand.

Part VI Captain Silver

CHAPTER XXVIII
IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP

The red glare of the torch, lighting up the interior of
the block-house, showed me the worst of my appre-
hensions realized. The pirates were in possession of the
house and stores: there was the cask of cognac, there
were the pork and bread, as before; and, what tenfold
increased my horror, not a sign of any prisoner. I could
only judge that all had perished, and my heart smote me
sorely that I had not been there to perish with them.

There were six of the buccaneers, all told; not another
man was left alive. Five of them v^ere on their feet,
flushed and swollen, suddenly called out of the first sleep
of drunkenness. The sixth had only risen upon his elbow:
he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round
his head told that he had recently been wounded* and
still more recently dressed. I remembered the man who
had been shot and had run back among the woods in
the great attack, and doubted not that this was he.

The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John's
shoulder. He himself, I thought, looked somewhat
paler and more stern than I was used to. He till wore
the fine broadcloth suit in which he had fulfilled ims

176

CAPTAIN SILVER 177

missioh, but it was bitterly the ^orse for wear, daubed
with clay and torn with the sharp briers of the wood.

" So," said he, " here's Jim Hawkins, shiver my tim-
bers! dropped in, like, eh? Well, come, I take th^t
friendly/'

And thereupon he sat down across the brandy cask,
and began to fill a pipe. *

" Give me a loan of the link, Dick," said he; and
then, when he had a good light, " that'll do, lad," he
added; " stick the glim in the wood-heap; and you,
gentlemen, bring yourselves to! you needn't stand up
for Mr. Hawkins; he'll excuse you, you may lay to that.
And so, Jim " stopping the tobacco " here you were,
and quite a pleasant surprise for poor old John. I see
you were smart when first I set my eyes on you; but
this here gets away from me clean, it do."

To all this, as may be well supposed, I made no answer.
They had set me with my back against the wall; and
I stood there, looking Silver in the face, pluckily enough,
I hope, to all outward appearance, but with black* despair
in my heart.

Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great com-
posure, and then ran on again.

" Now, you see, Jim, so be as you are here," says he,
" Fll give you a piece of my mind. I've always liked
you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and the picter of my own
self when I was young and handsome. I always wanted
you o Jine and take your share, and die a gentleman,
and now, my cock, you've got to. Cap'n Smollett's
a fine seaman, as I'll own up to any day, but stiff on
discipline. ' Dooty is dooty/ says he, and right he is.
Just you keep clear of the cap'n. The doctor himself is
gone dead again you ' ungrateful scamp ' was what he
said; an^d the short and the long of the whole story is
Jiere: you can't go back to your own lot, for they

178 TKEAbUKJi IbL-AJNU

won't have you; and,* without you start a third 1 ship's
company all by yourself, which might be lonely, you'll
have to jine with Cap'n Silver."

, So far so good. My friends, then, were still alive, and
though I partly believed the truth of Silver's statement,
that the cabin party were incensed at me for my desertion,
If vvas more relieved than distressed by what I heard.

" I don't say nothing as to your being in our hands,"
continued Silver, " though there you are, and you may
lay to it. I'm all for argyment; I never seen good come
out o' threatening. If you like the service, wel), you'll
jine; and if you don't, Jim, why, you're free to answer
no free and welcome, shipmate; and if fairer can be
said by mortal seaman, shiver my sides!"

" Am I to answer, then?" I asked, with a very tremulous
voice. Through all this sneering talk I was made to feel
the threat of death that overhung me, and my cheeks
burned and my heart beat painfully in my breast.

" Lad," said Silver, " no one's a-pressing of you.
Take your bearings. None of us won't hurry you, mate;
time goes so pleasant in your company, you see."

" Well," says I, growing a bit bolder, " if I'm to choose,
I declare I have a right to know what's what, and why
you're here, and where my friends ara"

* Wot's wot?" repeated one of the buccaneers in
a deep growl. " Ah, he'd be a lucky one as knowed that!"

" You'll perhaps batten down your hatches till you're
spoke to, my friend," cried Silver truculently m to> this
speaker. And then, in his first gracious tones, he replied
to me: " Yesterday morning, Mr. Hawkins," said he, " in
the dog-watch, down came Dr. Livesey with a flag of
truce. Says he, ' Cap'n Silver, you're sold out. Ship's
gone.' Well, maybe we'd been taking a glass and a song
to help it round. I won't say no. Leastways , none of
us had looked out. We looked out, and, by thundef?

CAPTAIN SILVER 179

the ol& ship was gone. I never seen a pack o' fools look
fishier; and you may lay to that, if I tells you that looked
the fishiest. * Well/ says the doctor, * let's bargain.'
We bargained, him and I, and here we are: stores,
brandy, block-house, the firewood you was thoughtful
enough to cut, and, in a manner of speaking, the whole
blessed boat, from cross-trees to kelson. As for thelfc,
they've tramped; I don't know where 's they are."

He drew again quietly at his pipe.

" And lest you should take it into that head of yours,"
he wenj on, " that you was included in the treaty, here's
the last word that was said: ' How many are you/ says
I, ' to leave?' ' Four,' says he ' four, and one of us
wounded. As for that boy, I don't know where he is,
confound him/ says he, * nor I don't much care. We're
about sick of him.' These was his words."

" Is that all?" I asked.

" Well, it's all that you're to hear, my son," returned
Silver.

" And now I am to choose?" \

" And now you are to choose, and you may lay to that,""
said Silver.

" Well," said I, " I am not such a fool but I know
pretty well what Ithave to look for. Let the worst come
to the worst, it's little I care. I've seen too many die
since I fell in with you. But there's a thing or
two I have to tell you," I said, and by this time I was
quitor excited; " and the first is this: here you are, in
a bad way: ship lost, treasure lost, men lost; your whole
business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who
did it it was I! I was in the apple barrel the night
we sighted land, and I heard you, John, and you, Dick
Johnson, and Hands, who is now at the bottom of the
sea, ancl told every word you said before the hour was
as for the schooner, it was I who cut her cable,

180 TREASURE ISLAND

and it was I that killec 1 the men you had aboard of her,
and it was I who brought her where you 11 never see her
more, not one of you. The laugh's on my side; I've had
tjie top of this business from the first; I no more fear you
chan I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me.
But one thing I'll say, and no more: if you spare me,
bygones are bygones, and when you fellows are in court
for piracy, I'll save you all I can. It is for you to choose.
Kill another and do yourselves no good, or spare me
and keep a witness to save you from the gallows."

I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, ,and, to
my wonder, not a man of them moved, but all sat staring
at me like as many sheep. And while they were still
staring, I broke out again:

" And now, Mr. Silver," I said, " I believe you're the
best man here, and if things go the worst, I'll take it
kind of you to let the doctor know the way I took it."

" I'll bear it in mind," said Silver, with an accent so
curious that I could not, for the life of me, decide whether
he were laughing at my request, or had been favourably
affected by my courage.

" I'll put one to that," cried the old mahogany-faced
seaman Morgan by name whom I had seen in Long
John's public-house upon the quays of Bristol. " It was
him that knowed Black Dog."

" Well, and see here," added the sea-cook. " I'll put
another again to that, by thunder! for it was this same
boy that faked the chart from Billy Bones. P\rst and
last, we've split upon Jim Hawkins!"

" Then here goes!" said Morgan, with an oath.

And he sprang up, drawing his knife as if he had
been twenty.

" Avast there!" cried Silver. " Who are you, Tom
Morgan? Maybe you thought you was cap'n h$re, per-
haps. By the powers, but I'll teach you better! A

CAPTAIN SILVER 181

me, aftd you'll go where many a good man's gone before
you, first and last, these thirty year back some to the
yard-arm, shiver my sides! and some by the board, and
all to feed the fishes. There's never a man looked rn,e
between the eyes and seen a good day a'terwards, Tom
Morgan, you may lay to that."

Morgan paused; but a hoarse murmur rose from ti*e
others.

" Tom's right," said one.

" I stood hazing long enough from one," added another.
" I'll be hanged if I'll be hazed by you, John Silver."

" Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with
met" roared Silver, bending far forward from his position
on the keg, with his pipe still glowing in his right hand.
" Put a name on what you're at; you ain't dumb, I reckon.
Him that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many
years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock his hat
athwart my hawse at the latter end of it? You know the
way; you're all gentlemen o' fortune, by your account.
Well, I'm ready. Take a cutlass, him that daises, and
I'll see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, before that
pipe's empty."

Not a man stirred; not a man answered.

" That's you're gort, is it?" he added, returning his
pipe to his mouth. " Well, you're a gay lot to look at,
anyway. Not much worth to fight, you ain't. P'r'aps
you can understand King George's English. I'm cap'n
here fry ^lection. I'm cap'n here because I'm the best
man by a long sea-mile. You won't fight, as gentlemen
o' fortune should; then, by thunder, you'll obey, and
you may lay to it! I like that boy, now; I never seen
a better boy than that. He's more a man than any pair
of rats of you in this here house, and what I say is this:
let me see him that'll lay a hand on him that's what I
you may lay to it."

182 TREASURE ISLAND

There was a long pause after this. I stood Straight
up against the wall, my heart still going like a sledge-
hammer, but with a ray of hope now shining in my bosom.
Silver leant back against the wall, his arms crossed, his
pipe in the corner of his mouth, as calm as though he
had been in church; yet his eye kept wandering furtively,
acid he kept the tail of it on his unruly followers. They,
on their part, drew gradually together towards the far
end of the block-house, and the low hiss of their whispering
sounded in my ear continuously like a stream. One after
another they would look up, and the red light of the torch
would fall for a second on their nervous faces; but it
was not towards me, it was towards Silver that they
turned their eyes.

" You seem to have a lot to say," remarked Silver,
spitting far into the air. " Pipe up and let me hear it,
or lay-to."

" Ax your pardon, sir," returned one of the men,
" you're pretty free with some of the rules; maybe
you'll jdndly keep an eye upon the rest. This crew's
dissatisfied; this crew don't vally bullying a marlinspike;
this crew has its rights like other crews, I'll make so free
as that; and by your own rules I take it we can talk to-
gether. I ax your pardon, sir, acknowledging you to be
capting at this present; but I claim my right, and steps
outside for a council."

And with an elaborate sea-salute, this fellow, a long,
ill-looking, yellow-eyed man of five-and-thirty*" stopped
coolly towards the door and disappeared out of the house.
One after another, the rest followed his example; each
making a salute as he passed; each adding some apology.
" According to rules," said one. " Fo'c's'le council,"
said Morgan. And so with one remark or another, all
marched out, and left Silver and me alone with the torch.

The sea-cook instantly removed his pipe. , ^

CAPTAIN SILVER 183

" Nbw, look you here, Jim Hawkins," he said, in
a steady whisper, that was no more than audible, " you're
within half a plank of death, and, what's a long sight
worse, of torture. They're going to throw me off. Bu,
you mark, I stand by you through thick and thin. I didn't
mean to; no, not till you spoke up. I was about desperate
to lose that much blunt, and be hanged into the bargalfe.
But I see you was the right sort. I says to myself: You
stand by Hawkins, John, and Hawkins '11 stand by you.
You're his last card, and, by the living thunder, John,
he's yours! Back to back, says I. You save your witness,
and he'll save your neck!"

I began dimly to understand.

" You mean all's lost?" I asked.

" Ay, by gum, I do!" he answered. " Ship gone, neck
gone that's the size of it. Once I looked into that bay,
Jim Hawkins, and seen no schooner well, I'm tough,
but I gave out. As for that lot and their council, mark
me, they're out-right fools and cowards. I'll save your
life if so be as I can from them. But, see her^, Jim
tit for tat you save Long John from swinging."

I was bewildered; it seemed a thing so hopeless he
was asking he, the old buccaneer, the ring-leader
throughout. f

" What I can do, that I'll do," I said.

" It's a bargain!" cried Long John. " You speak up
plucky, and, by thunder! I've a chance."

H% h<5bbled to the torch, where it stood propped
among the firewood, and took a fresh light to his pipe.

" Understand me, Jim," he said, returning. " I've
a head on my shoulders, I have. I'm on squire's side
now. I know you've got that ship safe somewheres.
How you done it I don't know, but safe it is. I guess
Hands apd O'Brien turned soft. I never much believed
irf iieitfrer of them. Now you mark me. I ask no questions,

184 < TREASURE ISLAND

nor I won't let others. <, I know when a game's up, I do;
and I know a lad that's staunch. Ah, you that's young
you and me might have done a power of good together!"
He drew some cognac from the cask into a tin can-
nikin.

" Will you taste, messmate?" he asked; and when
I'i'had refused: " Well, I'll take a drain myself, Jim,"
said he. " I need a caulker, for there's trouble on hand.
And, talking o' trouble, w r hy did that doctor give me the
chart, Jim?"

My face expressed a wonder so unaffected that he saw
the needlessness of further questions.

" Ah, well, he did, though," said he. " And there's
something under that, no doubt something, surely,
under that, Jim bad or good."

And he took another swallow of the brandy, shaking
his great fair head like a man who looks forward to the
worst.

CHAPTER XXTX

THE BLACK SPOT AGAIN
r

The council of the buccaneers had lasted some time,
when one of them re-entered the house, and with a repeti-
tion of the same salute, which had in my eyes an ironical
air, begged for a moment's loan of the torch?-, (jilver
briefly agreed; and this emissary retired again, leaving
us together in the dark.

" There's a breeze coming, Jim," said Silver, who had,
by this time, adopted quite a friendly and familiar tone.

I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out.
The embers of the great fire had so far burned themselves
out, and now glowed so low and duskily, that I uritter

CAPTAIN SILVER 185

stood why these conspirators desired a torch. About
half-way down the slope to the stockade they were col-
lected in a group; one held the light; another was on
his knees in their midst, and I saw the blade of an opeH
knife shine in his hand with varying colours, in the
moon and torchlight. The rest were all somewhat
stooping, as though watching the manoeuvres of thS>
last. I could just make out that he had a book as well
as a knife in his hand; and was still wondering how
anything so incongruous had come in their possession,
when the kneeling figure rose once more to his feet,
and the whole party began to move together towards
the house.

" Here they come," said I; and I returned to my
former position, for it seemed beneath my dignity that
they should find me watching them.

" Well, let 'em come, lad let 'em come," said Silver
cheerily. "I've still a shot in my locker."

The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled
together just inside, pushed one of their number fcjrward.
In any other circumstances it would have been comical
to see his slow advance, hesitating as he set down each
foot, but holding his closed right hand in front of him.

" Step up, lad," cped Silver. " I won't eat you. Hand
it over, lubber. I know the rules, I do; I won't hurt
a depytation."

Thus encouraged, the buccaneer stepped forth more
briskly, aAd having passed something to Silver, from
hand to hand, slipped yet more smartly back again to
his companions.

The sea-cook looked at what had been given him.

" The black spot! I thought so," he observed. " Where
might you have got the paper? Why, hillo! look here,
now: this f ain't lucky! You've gone and cut this out of
a-Bibfe..What fool's cut a Bible?"

186 TREASURE ISLAND

" Ah, there!" said Morgan " there! Wot did* I say?
No good'll come o' that, I said."

" Well, you've about fixed it now among you," con-
tinued Silver. " You'll all swing now, I reckon. What
soft-headed lubber had a Bible?"

" It was Dick," said one.

**" Dick, was it? Then Dick can get to prayers," said
Silver. " He's seen his slice of luck, has Dick, and you
may lay to that."

But here the long man with the yellow eyes struck
in.

" Belay that talk, John Silver," he said. " This crew
has tipped you the black spot in full council, as in dooty
bound; just you turn it over, as in dooty bound, and
see what's wrote there. Then you can talk."

" Thanky, George," replied the sea-cook. " You always
was brisk for business, and has the rules by heart, George,
as I'm pleased to see. Well, what is it, anyway? Ah!
' Deposed ' that's it, is it? Very pretty wrote, to be
sure; ,Uke print, I swear. Your hand o' write, George.
Why, you was gettin' quite a leadin' man in this here
crew. You'll be cap'n next, I shouldn't wonder. Just
oblige me with that torch again, will you? this pipe don't
draw."

" Come, now," said George, " you don't fool this
crew no more. You're a funny man, by your account;
but you're over now, and you'll maybe step down off
that barrel, and help vote." % r

" I thought you said you knowed the rules," returned
Silver contemptuously. " Leastways, if you don't, I
do; and I wait here and I'm still your cap'n, mind
till you outs with your grievances, and I reply; in the
meantime, your black spot ain't worth a biscuit. After
that, we'll see."

" Oh," replied George, " you don't be under

CAPTAIN SILVER 187

of apprehension; we're all square, we are. First, you've
made a hash of this cruise you'll be a bold man to say
no to that. Second, you let the enemy out o' this here
trap for nothing. Why did they want out? I dunno;*
but it's pretty plain they wanted it. Third, you wouldn't
let us go at them upon the march. Oh, we see through
you, John Silver; you want to play booty, that's what^
wrong with you. And then, fourth, there's this here
boy."

" Is that all?" asked Silver quietly.

" Enough, too," retorted George. " We'll all swing
and sun-dry for your bungling."

" Well, now, look here, I'll answer these four p'ints;
one after another I'll answer 'em. I made a hash o' this
cruise, did I? Well, now, you all know what I wanted:
and you all know, if that had been done, that we'd 'a*
been aboard the Hispaniola this night as ever was, every
man of us alive, and fit, and full of good plum-duff,
and the treasure in the hold of her, by thunder! Well,
who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was thejawful
cap'n? Who tipped me the black spot the day we landed,
and began this dance? Ah, it's a fine dance I'm with
you there and looks mighty like a hornpipe in a rope's
end at Execution Dpck by London town, it does. But
who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, and
you, George Merry! And you're the last above board
of that same meddling crew; and you have the Davy
Jonesfe insolence to up and stand for cap'n over me
you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! but this tops
the stiffest yarn to nothing."

Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George
and his late comrades that these words had not been
said in vain.

" That]s for number one," cried the accused, wiping
tftfe sw$at from his brow, for he had been talking with

i88 TREASURE ISLAND

a vehemence that shook the house. " Why, I give you
my word, I'm sick to speak to you. You've neither sense
nor memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers
owas that let you come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o' fortune!
I reckon tailors is your trade."

" Go on, John," said Morgan. " Speak up to the
ethers."

" Ah, the others!" returned John. " They're a nice
lot, ain't they? You say this cruise is bungled. Ah! by
gum, if you could understand how bad it's bungled, you
would see! We're that near the gibbet that my neck's
stiff with the thinking on it. You've seen 'em, maybe,
hanged in chains, birds about 'em, seamen p'inting 'em
out as they go down with the tide. * Who's that?' says
one. ' That! Why, that's John Silver. I knowed him
well/ says another. And you can hear the chains a-jangle
as you go about and reach for the other buoy. Now
that's about where we are, every mother's son of us,
thanks to him, and Hands, and Anderson, and other
ruination fools of you. And if you want to know about
number four, and that boy, why, shiver my timbers!
isn't he a hostage? Are we a-going to waste a hostage?
No, not us; he might be our last chance, and I shouldn't
wonder. Kill that boy? not me, mates! And number
three? Ah, well, there's a deal to say to number three.
Maybe you don't count it nothing to have a real college
doctor come to see you every day you, John, with
your head broke or you, George Merry, that had the
ague-shakes upon you not six hours agone, and has your
eyes the colour of lemon-peel to this same moment on the
clock? And maybe, perhaps, you didn't know there was
a consort coming, either? But there is; and not so long
till then; and we'll see who'll be glad to have a hostage
-when it comes to that. And as for number two, andjwhy
I made a bargain well, you came crawling on your

CAPTAIN SILVER 189

knees fb me to make it on your 'knees you came, you
was that downhearted and you'd have starved, too, if
I hadn't but that's a trifle! you look there that's
why!"

And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I in-
stantly recognized none other than the chart on yellow
paper, with the three red crosses, that I had found in
the oilcloth at the bottom of the captain's chest. Why
the doctor had given it to him was more than I could
fancy.

But if it were inexplicable to me, the appearance of
the chart was incredible to the surviving mutineers.
They leapt upon it like cats upon a mouse. It went from
hand to hand, one tearing it from another; and by the
oaths and the cries and the childish laughter with which
they accompanied their examination, you would have
thought, not only they were fingering the very gold, but
were at sea with it, besides, in safety.

" Yes," said one, " that's Flint, sure enough. M J. F.,
and a score below, with a clove hitch to it; so ht done
ever."

" Mighty pretty," said George. " But how are we to
get away with it, and us no ship?"

Silver suddenly sprang up, and supporting himself
with a hand against the wall: " Now I give you warning,
George," he cried. " One more word of your sauce,
and I'll call you down and fight you. How? Why, how
do I know? You had ought to tell me that you and the
rest, that lost me my schooner, with your interference,
burn you! But not you, you can't; you hain't got the
invention of a cockroach. But civil you can speak, and
shall, George Merry, you may lay to that."

" That's fair enow," said the old man Morgan.

" Fair!, I reckon so," said the sea-cook. " You lost
ffi8 ship; I found the treasure. Who's the better man

i 9 o TREASURE ISLAND

at that? And now I* resign, by thunder! Elect? whom
you please to be your cap'n now; I'm done with it."

" Silver!" they cried. " Barbecue for ever! Barbecue
for cap'n!"

" So that's the toon, is it?" cried the cook. " George,
I reckon you'll have to wait another turn, friend: and
iticky for you as I'm not a revengeful man. But that was
never my way. And now, shipmates, this black spot?
'Tain't much good now, is it? Dick's crossed his luck
and spoiled his Bible, and that's about all."

" It'll do to kiss the book on still, won't it?". growled
Dick, who was evidently uneasy at the curse he had
brought upon himself.

" A Bible with a bit cut out !" returned Silver derisively.
" Not it. It don't bind no more'n a ballad-book."

" Don't it, though?" cried Dick, with a sort of joy.
" Well, I reckon that's worth having, too."

" Here, Jim here's a cur'osity for you/' said Silver;
and he tossed me the paper.

It was a round about the size of a crown piece. One
side was blank, for it had been the last leaf; the other
contained a verse or two of Revelation these words among
the rest, which struck sharply home upon my mind:
" Without are dogs and murderers "& The printed side
had been blackened with wood ash, which already began
to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank side had
been written with the same material the one word " Dep-
posed ". I have that curiosity beside me at this moment;
but not a trace of writing now remains beyond a single
scratch, such as a man might make with his thumb-nail.

That was the end of the night's business. Soon after,
with a drink all round, we lay down to sleep, and the
outside of Silver's vengeance was to put George Merry
up for sentinel, and threaten him with death if |( he should
prove unfaithful.

CAPTAIN SILVER 191

It w?$ long ere I could close an eye, and Heaven
knows I had matter enough for thought in the man
whom I had slain that afternoon, in my own most perilous
position, and, above all, in the remarkable game that
I saw Silver now engaged upon keeping the mutineers
together with one hand, and grasping, with the other,
after every means, possible and impossible, to make his
peace and save his miserable life. He himself slept
peacefully, and snored aloud; yet my heart was sore for
him, wicked as he was, to think on the dark perils that
environed, and the shameful gibbet that awaited him.

CHAPTER XXX

ON PAROLE

I was wakened indeed, we were all wakened, for I
could see even the sentinel shake himself together from
where he had fallen against the door-post by a "clear,
hearty voice hailing us from the margin of the wood:

" Block-house, ahoy!" it cried. " Here's the doctor."

And the doctor it was. Although I was glad to hear
the sound, yet my gladness was not without admixture.
I remembered with confusion my insubordinate and
stealthy conduct; and when I saw where it had brought
me among what companions and surrounded by what
dangers I felt ashamed to look him in the face.

He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly
come; and when I ran to a loophole and looked out,
I saw him standing, like Silver once before, up to the
mid-leg in creeping vapour.

" You, doctor! Top o' the morning to you, sir!" cried
Silver? brdad awake and beaming with good-nature in a

i 9 2 TREASURE ISLAND

moment. " Bright and early, to be sure; and it's the
early bird, as the saying goes, that gets the rations.
George, shake up your timbers, son, and help Dr. Livesey
over the ship's side. All a-doin' well, your patients was
all well and merry."

So he pattered on, standing on the hill-top, with his
Crutch under his elbow, and one hand upon the side of
the log-house quite the old John in voice, manner, and
expression.

" We've quite a surprise for you too, sir," he continued.
" We've a little stranger here he! he! A noo boarder
and lodger, sir, and looking fit and taut as a fiddle; slep'
like a supercargo, he did, right alongside of John stem
to stem we was, ail night."

Dr. Livesey was by this time across the stockade and
pretty near the cook; and I could hear the alteration in
his voice as he said:

" Not Jim?"

" The very same Jim as ever was," says Silver.

The doctor stopped outright, although he did not
speak, and it was some seconds before he seemed able
to move on.

" Well, well," he said, at last, " duty first and pleasure
afterwards, as you might have said yourself, Silver. Let
us overhaul these patients of yours."

A moment afterwards he had entered the block-house,
and, with one grim nod to me, proceeded with his work
among the sick. He seemed under no apf/rehgnsion,
though he must have known that his life, among these
treacherous demons, depended on a hair; and he rattled
on to his patients as if he were paying an ordinary pro-
fessional visit in a quiet English family. His manner,
I suppose, reacted on the men; for they behaved to him
as if nothing had occurred as if he were still ship's
doctor, and they still faithful hands before the mast.

CAPTAIN SILVER 193

" YoxFre doing well, my friend, "he said to the fellow
with the bandaged head, " and if ever any person had
a close shave, it was you; your head must be as hard as
iron. Well, George, how goes it? You're a pretty colour,
certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did
you take that medicine? Did he take that medicine,
men?"

" Ay, ay, sir, he took it, sure enough," returned
Morgan.

" Because, you see, since I am mutineers' doctor, or
prison doctor, as I prefer to call it," says Doctor Livesey,
in his pleasantest way, " I make it a point of honour not
to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) and the
gallows."

The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the
home-thrust in silence.

" Dick don't feel well, sir," said one.

" Don't he?" replied the doctor. " Well, step up here,
Dick, and let me see your tongue. No, I should be sur-
prised if he did! the man's tongue is fit to frighten the
French. Another fever."

" Ah, there," said Morgan, " that corned of spoiling
Bibles."

" That corned aj you call it of being arrant asses,"
retorted the doctor, " and not having sense enough to
know honest air from poison, and the dry land from
a vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most probable
though, of course, it's only an opinion that you'll all
have the deuce to pay before you get that malaria out of
your systems. Camp in a bog, would you? Silver, I'm
surprised at you. You're less a fool than many, take
you all round; but you don't appear to me to have the
rudiments of a notion of the rules of health."

" Wellj" he added, after he had dosed them round,
afiri thf y had taken his prescriptions with really laugh-

(D419) G

i 9 4 TREASURE ISLAND

able humility, more* like charity-school children than
blood-guilty mutineers and pirates " well, that's done
for to-day. And now I should wish to have a talk with
that boy, please."

And he nodded his head in my direction carelessly.

George Merry was at the door, spitting and spluttering
over some bad-tasted medicine; but at the first word of
the doctor's proposal he swung round with a deep flush,
and cried " No!" and swore.

Silver struck the barrel with his open hand.

" Si-lence!" he roared, and looked about him posi-
tively like a lion. " Doctor," he went on, in his usual
tones, " I was a-thinking of that, knowing as how you
had a fancy for the boy. We're all humbly grateful for
your kindness, and, as you see, puts faith in you, and
takes the drugs down like that much grog. And I take it,
I've found a way as '11 suit all. Hawkins, will you give
me your word of honour as a young gentleman for a
young gentleman you are, although poor born your
word of honour not to slip your cable?"

I readily gave the pledge required.

" Then, doctor," said Silver, " you just step outside
o' that stockade, and once you're there, I'll bring the
boy down on the inside, and I reckon you can yarn
through the spars. Good-day to you, sir, and all our
dooties to the squire and Cap'n Smollett."

The explosion of disapproval, which nothing but
Silver's black looks had restrained, broke out iiiimediately
the doctor had left the house. Silver was roundly accused
of playing double of trying to make a separate peace
for himself of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices
and victims; and, in one word, of the identical, exact
thing that he was doing. It seemed to me so obvious,
in this case, that I could not imagine how he was to turn
their anger. But he was twice the man the rest we?e;

CAPTAIN SILVER 195

and hi^ last night's victory had given him a huge pre-
ponderance on their minds. He called them all the fools
and dolts you can imagine, said it was necessary I should
talk to the doctor, fluttered the chart in their faces,
asked them if they could afford to break the treaty the
very day they were bound a-treasure-hunting.

" No, by thunder!" he cried, " it's us must break tie
treaty when the time comes; and till then I'll gammon
that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy."

And then he bade them get the fire lit, and stalked
out upon his crutch, with his hand on my shoulder,
leaving them in a disarray, and silenced by his volubility
rather than convinced.

" Slow, lad, slow," he said. " They might round
upon us in a twinkle of an eye, if we was seen to hurry."

Very deliberately, then, did we advance across the
sand to where the doctor awaited us on the other side
of the stockade, and as soon as we were within easy
speaking distance, Silver stopped.

" You'll make a note of this here also, doctor," says
he, " and the boy'll tell you how I saved his life, and
were deposed for it, too, and you may lay to that. Doctor,
when a man's steering as near the wind as me playing
chuck-farthing with the last breath in his body, like
you wouldn't think? it too much, mayhap, to give him
one good word? You'll please bear in mind it's not my
life only now it's that boy's into the bargain; and you'll
speak me -fair, doctor, and give me a bit o' hope to go on,
for the sake of mercy."

Silver was a changed man, once he was out there and
had his back to his friends and the block-house; his
cheeks seemed to have fallen in, his voice trembled;
never was a soul more dead in earnest.

" Why, John, you're not afraid?" asked Doctor Livesey.

" Doctor. I'm no coward; no, not I not so much!"

196 TREASURE ISLAND

and he snapped his fingers. " If I was I wouldn't say
it. But I'll own up fairly, I've the shakes upon me for
the gallows. You're a good man and a true; I never seen
% better man! And you'll not forget what I done good,
not any more than you'll forget the bad, I know. And
I step aside see here and leave you and Jim alone,
^frid you'll put that down for me too, for it's a long
stretch, is that!"

So saying, he stepped back a little way, till he was out
of earshot, and there sat down upon a tree-stump and
began to whistle; spinning round now and again upon
his seat so as to command a sight, sometimes of me and
the doctor, and sometimes of his unruly ruffians as they
went to and fro in the sand, between the fire which they
were busy rekindling and the house, from which they
brought forth pork and bread to make the breakfast.

" So, Jim," said the doctor sadly, " here you are. As
you have brewed, so shall you drink, my boy. Heaven
knows, I cannot find it in my heart to blame you; but
this miteh I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain
Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; and
when he was ill, and couldn't help it, by George, it was
downright cowardly!"

I will own that I here began to weep. " Doctor," I said,
" you might spare me. I have blamed myself enough;
my life's forfeit anyway, and I should have been dead
by now, if Silver hadn't stood for me; and, doctor, be-
lieve this, I can die and -I daresay I deserve it but
what I fear is torture. If they come to torture me "

" Jim," the doctor interrupted, and his voice was
quite changed, " Jim, I can't have this. Whip over, and
we'll run for it."

" Doctor," said I, " I passed my word."

" I know, I know," he cried. " We can't help that,
Jim, now. I'll take it on my shoulders, holus^ t>oh,<

CAPTAIN SILVER 197

blame and shame, my boy; but stay here I cannot let
you. Jump! One jump, and you're out, and we'll run
for it like antelopes."

" No," I replied, " you know right well you wouldn't,
do the thing yourself; neither you, nor squire, nor
captain; and no more will I. Silver trusted me; I passed
my word, and back I go. But, doctor, you did not let me
finish. If they come to torture me, I might let slip a word
of where the ship is; for I got the ship, part by luck and
part by risking, and she lies in North Inlet, on the southern
beach, and just below high water. At half-tide she must
be high and dry."

" The ship!" exclaimed the doctor.

Rapidly I described to him my adventures, and he
heard me out in silence.

" There is a kind of fate in this," he observed, when
I had done. " Every step, it's you that saves our lives;
and do you suppose by any chance that we are going to
let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my
boy. You found out the plot; you found Ben Qunn
the best deed that ever you did, or will do, though you
live to ninety. Oh, by Jupiter, and talking of Ben Gunn!
why, this is the mischief in person. Silver!" he cried,
" Silver! I'll give jou a piece of advice," he continued,
as the cook drew near again; " don't you be in any great
hurry after that treasure."

" Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain't," said
Silver " I can only, asking your pardon, save my life and
the boy's by seeking for that treasure; and you may lay
to that."

" Well, Silver," replied the doctor, " if that is so, Ul
50 one step further: look out for squalls when you find
it."

" Sir," said Silver, " as between man and man, that's
:o mucli and too little. What you're after, why you left

198 TREASURE ISLAND

the block-house, why you given me that ther# chart,
I don't know, now, do I? and yet I done your bidding
with my eyes shut and never a word of hope! But no,
this here's too much. If you won't tell me what you mean
plain out, just say so, and I'll leave the helm."

" No," said the doctor musingly, " I've no right to
sty more; it's not my secret, you see, Silver, or, I give
you my word, I'd tell it you. But I'll go as far with you
as I dare go, and a step beyond; for I'll have my wig
sorted by the captain, or I'm mistaken! And, first, I'll
give you a bit of hope: Silver, if we both get alive out
of this wolf-trap, I'll do my best to save you, short of
perjury."

Silver's face was radiant. " You couldn't say more,
I'm sure, sir, not if you was my mother," he cried.

"Well, that's my first concession," added the doctor.
" My second is a piece of advice: Keep the boy close
beside you, and when you need help, halloo. I'm off to
seek it for you, and that itself will show you if I speak
at random. Good-bye, Jim."

And Dr. Livesey shook hands with me through the
stockade, nodded to Silver, and set off at a brisk pace
into the wood.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE TREASURE HUNT FLINT'S POINTEft

" Jim," said Silver, when we were alone, " if I saved
your life, you saved mine; and I'll not forget it. I seen
the doctor waving you to run for it with the tail of
my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing.
Jim, that's one to you. This is the first glint of hope
I had since the attack failed, and I owe it to y6u. *

CAPTAIN SILVER 199

now, Jjm, we're to go in for this iiere treasure hunting,
with sealed orders, too, and I don't like it; and you and
me must stick close, back to back like, and we'll save our
necks in spite o' fate and fortune." ,

Just then a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast
was ready, and we were soon seated here and there about
the sand over biscuit and fried junk. They had lit a fke
fit to roast an ox; and it was now grown so hot that they
could only approach it from the windward, and even
there not without precaution. In the same wasteful
spirit, they had cooked, I suppose, three times more
than they could eat; and one of them, with an empty
laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which blazed
and roared again over this unusual fuel. I never in my
life saw men so careless of the morrow; hand to mouth
is the only word that can describe their way of doing;
and what with wasted food and sleeping sentries, though
they were bold enough for a brush and be done with
it, I could see their entire unfitness for anything like a
prolonged campaign.

Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon
his shoulder, had not a word of blame for their reck-
lessness. And this the more surprised me, for I thought
he had never shown himself so cunning as he did then.

" Ay, mates," said he, " it's lucky you have Barbecue
to think for you with this here head. I got what I wanted,
I did. Sure enough, they have the ship. Where they
have^t, I* don't know yet; but once we hit the treasure,
we'll have to jump about and find out. And then, mates,
us that has the boats, I reckon, has the upper hand."

Thus he kept running on, with his mouth full of tfoe
hot bacon: thus he restored their hope and confidence,
and, I more than suspect, repaired his own at the same
time.

" As fbr hostage," he continued, " that's his last talk,

200 TREASURE ISLAND

I guess, with them he teves so dear. I've got my piece o'
news, and thanky to him for that; but it's over and done.
I'll take him in a line when we go treasure hunting, for
we'll keep him like so much gold, in case of accidents,
you mark, and in the meantime. Once we got the ship
and treasure both, and off to sea like jolly companions,
wfty, then, we'll talk Mr. Hawkins over, we will, and
we'll give him his share, to be sure, for all his kind-
ness."

It was no wonder the men were in a good humour now.
For my part, I was horribly cast down. Should the scheme
he had now sketched prove feasible, Silver, already
doubly a traitor, would not hesitate to adopt it. He had
still a foot in either camp, and there was no doubt he
would prefer wealth and freedom with the pirates to
a bare escape from hanging, which was the best he had
to hope on our side.

Nay, and even if things so fell out that he was forced
to keep his faith with Dr. Livesey, even then what danger
lay before us! What a moment that would be when the
suspicions of his followers turned to certainty, and he
and I should have to fight for dear life he, a cripple,
and I, a boy against five strong and active seamen!

Add to this double apprehension^ the mystery that
still hung over the behaviour of my friends; their un-
explained desertion of the stockade; their inexplicable
cession of the chart; or, harder still to understand, the
doctor's last warning to Silver, " Look out ff>r squalls
when you find it "; and you will readily believe how little
taste I found in my breakfast, and with how uneasy
a heart I set forth behind my captors on the quest for
treasure.

We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to
see us; all in soiled sailor clothes, and all but me armed
to the teeth. Silver had two guns slung about

CAPTAIN SILVER 201

beforehand one behind besides ?he great cutlass at his
waist, and a pistol in each pocket of his square-tailed
coat. To complete his strange appearance, Captain
Flint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbling odds
and ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a line about my
waist, and followed obediently after the sea-cook, who
held the loose end of the rope, now in his free hafid,
now between his powerful teeth. For all the world,
I was like a dancing bear.

The other men were variously burthened; some carry
ing picks and shovels for that had been the very first
necessary they brought ashore from the Hispaniola
others laden with pork, bread, and brandy for the mid-
day meal. All the stores, I observed, came from our
stock; and I could see the truth of Silver's words the
night before. Had he not struck a bargain with the
doctor, he and his mutineers, deserted by the ship,
must have been driven to subsist on clear water and the
proceeds of their hunting. Water would have been
little to their taste; a sailor is not usually ' a good
shot; and, besides all that, when they were so short of
eatables, it was not likely they would be very flush of
powder.

Well, thus equipped, we all set out even the fellow
with the broken head, who should certainly have kept in
shadow and straggled, one after another, to the beach,
where the two gigs awaited us. Even these bore trace of
the 4runken folly of the pirates, one in a broken thwart,
and both in their muddied and unbaled condition. Both
were to be carried along with us, for the sake of safety;
and so, with our numbers divided between them, w^gpt
forth upon the bosom of the anchorage.

As we pulled over, there was some discussion on the
chart. The red cross was, of course, far too large to be
a* guide; and the terms of the note on the back, as you

* G2

202 TREASURE ISLAND

will hear, admitted of* some ambiguity. They nm, the
reader may remember, thus:

" Tall tree, Spy-glass Shoulder, bearing a point to the
rf) of N.N.E.

" Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E.

" Ten feet."
t.

A tall tree was thus the principal mark. Now, right
before us, the anchorage was bounded by a plateau from
two to three hundred feet high, adjoining on the north
the sloping southern shoulder of the Spy-glass, and
rising again towards the south into the rough, cliffy
eminence called the Mizzen-mast Hill. The top of the
plateau was dotted thickly with pine trees of varying
height. Every here and there, one of a different species
rose forty or fifty feet clear above its neighbours, and
which of these was the particular " tall tree " of Captain
Flint could only be decided on the spot, and by the read-
ings of the compass.

Yet, filthough that was the case, every man on board
the boats had picked a favourite of his own ere we were
half-way over, Long John alone shrugging his shoulders
and bidding them wait till they were there.

We pulled easily, by Silver's directions, not to weary the
hands prematurely; and, after quite a long passage,
landed at the mouth of the second river that which
runs down a woody cleft of the Spy-glass. Thence, bend-
ing to our left, we began to ascend the slope toward^ the
plateau.

At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted,
ipsrjsh vegetation, greatly delayed our progress; but
by little and little the hill began to steepen and become
stony under foot, and the wood to change its character
and to grow in a more open order. It was, indeed, a most
pleasant portion of the island that we were now

CAPTAIN SILVER , 203

ing. A 'heavy-scented broom and many flowering shrubs
had almost taken the place of grass. Thickets of green
nutmeg trees were dotted here and there with the red
columns and the broad shadow of the pines; and the
first mingled their spice with the aroma of the others.
The air, besides, was fresh and stirring, and this, under
the sheer sunbeams, was a wonderful refreshment to
our senses.

The party spread itself abroad, in a fan shape, shouting
and leaping to and fro. About the centre, and a good
way behind the rest, Silver and I followed I tethered
by my rope, he ploughing, with deep pants, among the
sliding gravel. From time to time, indeed, I had to lend
him a hand, or he must have missed his footing and
fallen backward down the hill.

We had thus proceeded for about half a mile, and were
approaching the brow of the plateau, when the man
upon the farthest left began to cry aloud, as if in terror.
Shout after shout came from him, and the others began
to run in his direction.

" He can't 'a' found the treasure," said old Morgan,
hurrying past us from the right, " for that's clean a-top."

Indeed, as we found when we also reached the spot,
it was something vf?ry different. At the foot of a pretty
big pine, and involved in a green creeper, which had
even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human
skeleton lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground.
I belf 2ve a chill struck for a moment to every heart.

" He was a seaman," said George Merry, who, bolder
than the rest, had gone up close, and was examining the
rags of clothing. " Leastways, this is good sea-cloth."* ;

" Ay, ay," said Silver, " like enough; you wouldn't
look to find a bishop here, I reckon. But what sort of
a way is that for bones to lie? 'Tain't in natur'."

Indeed, on a second glance, it seemed impossible to

204 ^REASURE ISLAND

fancy that the body was in a natural position. '-But for
some disarray (the work, perhaps, of the birds that had
fed upon him, or of the slow-growing creeper that had
gradually enveloped his remains) the man lay perfectly
straight his feet pointing in one direction, his hands,
raised above his head like a diver's, pointing directly in
me opposite.

" I've taken a notion into my old numskull," observed
Silver. " Here's the compass; there's the tip-top p'int
o' Skeleton Island, stickin' out like a tooth. Just take
a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones."

It was done. The body pointed straight in the direc-
tion of the island, and the compass read duly E.S.E. and
by E.

" I thought so," cried the cook; u this here is a p'inter.
Right up there is our line for the Pole Star and the jolly
dollars. But, by thunder! if it don't make me cold inside
to think of Flint. This is one of his jokes, and no mistake.
Him and these six was alone here; he killed 'em, every
man; tnd this one he hauled here and laid down by com-
pass, shiver my timbers! They're long bones, and the
hair's been yellow. Ay, that would be Allardyce. You
mind Allardyce, Tom Morgan?"

"Ay, ay," returned Morgan, " I jnind him; he owed
me money, he did, and took my knife ashore with him."

" Speaking of knives," said another, " why don't we
find his'n lying round? Flint warn't the man to pick
a seaman's pocket; and the birds, I guess, would leave
it be."

" By the powers, and that's true!" cried Silver.
"--" There ain't a thing left here," said Merry, still
feeling round among the bones, " not a copper doit nor
a baccy-box. It don't look nat'ral to me."

" No, by gum, it don't," agreed Silver; " not nat'ral,
nor not nice, says you. Great guns! messmates, but if

CAPTAIN SILVER 205

Flint was living, this would be a hot spot for you and
me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what
they are now."

" I saw him dead with these here deadlights," s?id
Morgan. " Billy took me in. There he laid, with penny-
pieces on his eyes."

" Dead ay, sure enough he's dead and gone behhv,"
said the fellow with the bandage; " but if ever sperrit
walked, it would be Flint's. Dear heart, but he died
bad, did Flint!"

" Ay, that he did," observed another; " now he raged,
and now he hollered for the rum, and now he sang.
' Fifteen Men ' were his only song, mates; and I tell
you true, I never rightly liked to hear it since. It was
main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old
song comin' out as clear as clear and the death-haul
on the man already."

" Come, come," said Silver, " stow this talk. He's
dead, and he don't walk, that I know; leastways, he won't
walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care kiljed a cat.
Fetch ahead for the doubloons."

We started, certainly; but in spite of the hot sun and
the staring daylight, the pirates no longer ran separate
and shouting through the wood, but kept side by side and
spoke with bated breath. The terror of the dead buccaneer
had fallen on their spirits.

206 TREASURE ISLAND

CHAPTER XXXII

'THE TREASURE HUNT THE VOICE AMONG THE TREES

Partly from the damping influence of this alarm,
parfiy to rest Silver and the sick folk, the whole party
sat down as soon as they had gained the brow of the
ascent.

The plateau being somewhat tilted towards the west,
this spot on which we had paused commanded a wide
prospect on either hand. Before us, over the tree- tops,
we beheld the Cape of the Woods fringed with surf;
behind, we not only looked down upon the anchorage
and Skeleton Island, but saw clear across the spit and
the eastern lowlands a great field of open sea upon the
east. Sheer above us rose the Spy-glass, here dotted
with single pines, there black with precipices. There
was no sound but that of the distant breakers, mounting
from all .round, and the chirp of countless insects in the
brush. Not a man, not a sail upon the sea; the very
largeness of the view increased the sense of solitude.

Silver, as he sat, took certain bearings with his com-
pass. f

" There are three c tall trees '," said he, " about in
the right line from Skeleton Island. ' Spy-glass Shoulder ',
I take it, means that lower p'int there. It's child's play
to find the stuff now. I've half a mind to dine firsf." t

" I don't feel sharp," growled Morgan. " Thinkin'
o* Flint I think it were as done me."

^LAh, well, my son, you praise your stars he's dead,"
said Silver.

" He were an ugly devil," cried a third pirate with
a shudder; " that blue in the face, too!"

" That was how the rum took him," added Merry r

CAPTAIN SILVER 207

" Blue!* well, I reckon he was blue* That's a true word."
Ever since they had found the skeleton and got upon
this train of thought, they had spoken lower and lower,
and they had almost got to whispering by now, so that
the sound of their talk hardly interrupted the silence of
the wood. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the trees
in front of us, a thin, high, trembling voice struck up tfie
well-known air and words:

" Fifteen men on the dead man's chest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

I never have seen men more dreadfully affected than
the pirates. The colour went from their six faces like
enchantment; some leaped to their feet, some clawed
hold of others; Morgan grovelled on the ground.

" It's Flint, by !" cried Merry.

The song had stopped as suddenly as it began
broken off, you would have said, in the middle of a note,
as though someone had laid his hand upon the singer's
mouth. Coming so far through the clear, sunny ^atmos-
phere among the green tree- tops, I thought it sounded
airily and sweetly; and the effect on my companions was
the stranger.

" Come," said Silver, struggling with his ashen lips
to get the word out, " this won't do. Stand by to go
about. This is a rum start, and I can't name the voice:
but it's someone skylarking someone that's flesh and
blooc^ anrfyou may lay to that."

His courage had come back as he spoke, and some of
the colour to his face along with it. Already the others
had begun to lend an ear to this encouragement, and w^ra
coming a little to themselves, when the same voice broke
out again not this time singing, but in a faint distant
hail, that echoed yet fainter among the clefts of the Spy-
glass.* *

2o8 TREASURE ISLAND

" Darby M'Graw,' it wailed for that is the word
that best describes the sound " Darby M'Graw! Darby
M'Graw!" again and again and again; and then rising
a little higher, and with an oath that I leave out, " Fetch
aft the rum, Darby!"

The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their
eyes staring from their heads. Long after the voice had
died away they still stared in silence, dreadfully, before
them.

" That fixes it!" gasped one. " Let's go."

" They was his last words," moaned Morgan, " his
last words above board."

Dick had his Bible out, and was praying volubly.
He had been well brought up, had Dick, before he came
to sea and fell among bad companions.

Still, Silver was unconquered. I could hear his teeth
rattle in his head; but he had not yet surrendered.

" Nobody in this here island ever heard of Darby,"
he muttered: " not one but us that's here." And then,
making a great effort: " Shipmates," he cried, "I'm here
to get that stuff, and I'll not be beat by man nor devil.
I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, by the powers,
I'll face him dead. There's seven hundred thousand
pound not a quarter of a mile from here. When did ever
a gentleman o' fortune show his stern to that much
dollars, for a boosy old seaman with a blue mug and
him dead, too?"

But there was no sign of reawakening coufage jn his
followers; rather, indeed, of growing terror at the irre-
verence of his words.

^ Belay there, John!" said Merry. " Don't you cross
a sperrit."

And the rest were all too terrified to reply. They
would have run away severally had they dared; but fear
kept them together, and kept them close by J6hn* a* if

CAPTAIN SILVER 209

his during helped them. He, <5n his part, had pretty
well fought his weakness down.

" Sperrit? Well, maybe," he said. " But there's one
thing not clear to me. There was an echo. Now, no n^n
ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well, then, what's he
doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That
ain't in natur', surely?"

This argument seemed weak enough to me. But
you can never tell what will affect the superstitious, and,
to my wonder, George Merry was greatly relieved.

" Well, that's so," he said. " You've a head upon
your shoulders, John, and no mistake. 'Bout ship, mates!
This here crew is on a wrong tack, I do believe. And
come to think on it, it was like Flint's voice, I grant you,
but not just so clear-away like it, after all. It was liker
somebody else's voice now it was liker "

" By the powers, Ben Gunn!" roared Silver.

" Ay, and so it were," cried Morgan, springing on his
knees. " Ben Gunn it were!"

" It don't make much odds, do it, now?" asfced Dick.
" Ben Gunn's not here in the body, any more'n Flint."

But the older hands greeted this remark with scorn.

" Why nobody minds Ben Gunn," cried Merry;
" dead or alive, nobody minds him."

It was extraordinary how their spirits had returned,
and how the natural colour had revived in their faces.
Soon they were chatting together, with intervals of
listening; and not long after, hearing no further sound,
they shouldered the tools and set forth again, Merry
walking first with Silver's compass to keep them on the
right line with Skeleton Island. He had said the fcufe
dead or alive, nobody minded Ben Gunn.

Dick alone still held his Bible, and looked around
him as he went, with fearful glances; but he found no
sympsfthy, and Silver even joked him on his precautions*

210 TREASURE ISLAND

" I told you," said fie " I told you, you had *p'iled
your Bible. If it ain't no good to swear by, what do you
suppose a sperrit would give for it? Not that!" and
he snapped his big fingers, halting a moment on his
crutch.

But Dick was not to be comforted; indeed, it was
soon plain to me that the lad was falling sick; hastened
by heat, exhaustion, and the shock of his alarm, the
fever, predicted by Doctor Livesey, was evidently grow-
ing swiftly higher.

It was fine open walking here, upon the summit;
our way lay a little down-hill, for, as I have said, the
plateau tilted towards the west. The pines, great and
small, grew wide apart: and even between the clumps
of nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot
sunshine. Striking, as we did, pretty near north-west
across the island, we drew, on the one hand, ever nearer
under the shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the other,
looked ever wider over that western bay where I had
once tossed and trembled in the coracle.

The first of the tall trees was reached, and, by the bearing,
proved the wrong one. So with the second. The third
rose nearly two hundred feet into the air above a clump
of underwood; a giant of a vegetable, c with a red column
as big as a cottage, and a wide shadow around in which
a company could have manoeuvred. It was conspicuous
far to sea both on the east and west, and might have
been entered as a sailing mark upon the chart. ^ r

But it was not its size that now impressed my com-
panions; it was the knowledge that seven hundred
+hcy^and pounds in gold lay somewhere buried below
its spreading shadow. The thought of the money, as they
drew nearer, swallowed up their previous terrors. Their
eyes burned in their heads; their feet grew speedier and
lighter; their whole soul was bound up in that fortune,

CAPTAIN SILVER 211

that whple lifetime of extravagance and pleasure, that
lay waiting there for each of them.

Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils
stood out and quivered: he cursed like a madman wheif
the flies settled on his hot and shiny countenance; he
plucked furiously at the line that held me to him, and,
from -time to time, turned his eyes upon me with a deadly
look. Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts;
and certainly I read them like print. In the immediate
nearness of the gold, all else had been forgotten; his
promise and the doctor's w r arning were both things of
the past; and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize
upon the treasure, find and board the Hispaniola under
cover of night, cut every honest throat about that island,
and sail away as he had at first intended, laden with
crimes and riches.

Shaken as I was with these alarms, it was hard for me
to keep up with the rapid pace of the treasure hunters.
Now and again I stumbled; and it was then that Silver
plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me his
murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us,
and now brought up the rear, was babbling to himself
both prayers and curses, as his fever kept rising. This
also added to my wretchedness, and, to crown all, I was
haunted by the thought of the tragedy that had once been
acted on that plateau, when that ungodly buccaneer with
the blue face he who died at Savannah, singing and
shouting fSr drink had there, with his own hand, cut
down his six accomplices. This grove, that was now
so peaceful, must then have rung with cries, I thought;
and even with the thought I could believe I hearcLit
ringing still.

We were now at the margin of the thicket.

" Huzza, mates, all together!" shouted Merry; and
the*foren?ost broke into a run.

212 TREASURE ISLAND

And suddenly, not! ten yards farther, we beheld them
stop. A low cry arose. Silver doubled his pace, digging
away with the foot of his crutch like one possessed; and
next moment he and I had come also to a dead halt.

Before us was a great excavation, not very recent,
for the sides had fallen in and grass had sprouted on the
bottom. In this were the shaft of a pick broken in- two
and the boards of several packing-cases strewn around.
On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron,
the name Walrus the name of Flint's ship.

All was clear to probation. The cache had been found
and rifled: the seven hundred thousand pounds were
gone!

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE FALL OF A CHIEFTAIN

The^*e never was such an overturn in this world.
Each of these six men was as though he had been struck.
But with Silver the blow passed almost instantly. Every
thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a racer,
on that money; well, he was brought up in a single
second, dead; and he kept his head, found his temper,
and changed his plan before the others had had time to
realize the disappointment.

" Jim," he whispered, " take that, and stknd fyy for
trouble.''

And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol.
. JU the same time he began quietly moving northward,
and in a few steps had put the hollow between us two
and the other five. Then he looked at me and nodded,
as much as to say, " Here is a narrow corner ", as, indeed,
I thought it was. His looks were now quite friendly;

CAPTAIN SILVER 211

and I was so revolted at these constant cnanges, thai
I could not forbear whispering, " So youVe changed
sides again ".

There was no time left for him to answer in. The
buccaneers, with oaths and cries, began to leap, one
after another, into the pit, and to dig with their fingers,
throwing the boards aside as they did so. Morgan found
a piece of gold. He held it up with a perfect spout oi
oaths. It was a two-guinea piece, and it went from hand
to hand among them for a quarter of a minute.

" Two guineas!" roared Merry, shaking it at Silver,
" That's your seven hundred thousand pounds, is it?
You're the man for bargains, ain't you? You're him that
never bungled nothing, you wooden-headed lubber!"

" Dig away, boys," said Silver, with the coolest in-
solence; " you'll find some pig-nuts and I shouldn't
wonder."

" Pig-nuts!" repeated Merry, in a scream. " Mates,
do you hear that? I tell you, now, that man there knew
it, all along. Look in the face of him, and yoi'll see it
wrote there."

" Ah, Merry," remarked Silver, " standing for cap'n
again? You're a pushing lad, to be sure."

But this time eyeryone was entirely in Merry's favour.
They began to scramble out of the excavation, darting
furious glances behind them. One thing I observed,
which looked well for us: they all got out upon the
opposite side from Silver.

Well, there we stood, two on one side, five on the other,
the pit between us, and nobody screwed up high enough
to offer the first blow. Silver never moved; he wajch^i
them, very upright on his crutch, and looked as cool
33 ever I saw him. He was brave, and no mistake.

&t last, Merry seemed to think a speech might help
matters.

2i 4 TREASURE ISLAND

" Mates," says he, " there's two of them alone'there;
one's the old cripple that brought us all here and blun-
dered us down to this; the other's that cub that I mean
tct have the heart of. Now, mates "

He was raising his arm and his voice, and plainly
meant to lead a charge. But just then crack! crack!
crack! three musket-shots flashed out of the thicket.
Merry tumbled head-foremost into the excavation; the
man with the bandage spun round like a teetotum, and
fell all his length upon his side, where he lay dead, but
still twiching; and the other three turned and ran for
it with all their might.

Before you could wink, Long John had fired two barrels
of a pistol into the struggling Merry; and as the man
rolled up his eyes at him in the last agony, " George,"
said he, " I reckon IL^ ' xi you."

At the same moment the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn
joined us, with smoking muskets, from among the nutmeg
trees.

" Forward!" cried the doctor. " Double quick, my
lads. We must head 'em off the boats."

And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging
through the bushes to the chest.

I tell you, but Silver was anxious tp keep up with us.
The work that man went through, leaping on his crutch
till the muscles of his chest were fit to burst, was work
no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the doctor.
As it was, he was already thirty yards behind us, wid
on the verge of strangling, when we reached the brow
of the slope.
" Doctor," he hailed, " see there! no hurry!"

Sure enough there was no hurry. In a more open
part of the plateau, we could see the three survivors
still running in the same direction as they had starred,
right for Mizzen-mast Hill. We were already between

CAPTAIN SILVER 215

them an^l the boats; and so we fout sat down to breathe,
while Long John, mopping his face, came slowly up
with us.

05 Thank ye kindly, doctor," says he. " You came in
in about the nick, I guess, for me and Hawkins. And
so it's you, Ben Gunn!" he added. " Well, you're a nice
one, -to be sure."

" I'm Ben Gunn, I am," replied the maroon, wriggling
like an eel in his embarrassment. " And," he added,
after a long pause, " how do, Mr. Silver? Pretty well,
I thank ye, says you."

" Ben, Ben," murmured Silver, " to think as you've
done me!"

The doctor sent back Gray for one of the pickaxes,
deserted, in their flight, by the mutineers; and then, as
we proceeded leisurely down-hill to where the boats
were lying, related, in a few words, what had taken
place. It was a story that profoundly interested Silver;
and Ben Gunn, the half-idiot maroon, was the hero
from beginning to end.

Ben, in his long, lonely wanderings about the island,
had found the skeleton it was he that had rifled it;
he had found the treasure; he had dug it up (it was the
haft of his pickaxe^that lay broken in the excavation);
he had carried it on his back, in many weary journeys,
from the foot of a tall pine to a cave he had on the two-
pointed hill at the north-east angle of the island, and
ther^ it hati lain stored in safety since two months before
the arrival of the Hispaniola.

When the doctor had wormed this secret from him,
on the afternoon of the attack, and when, next mornyig
he saw the anchorage deserted, he had gone to Silver,
given him the chart, which was now useless given him
the stores, for Ben Gunn's cave was well supplied with
goat's mfeat salted by himself given anything and every-

216 TREASURE ISLAND

thing to get a chance 6f moving in safety from the^stockade
to the two-pointed hill, there to be clear of malaria and
keep a guard upon the money.

, " As for you, Jim," he said, " it went against my
heart, but I did what I thought best for those who had
stood by their duty; and if you were not one of these,
\(hose fault was it?"

That morning, finding that I was to be involved in
the horrid disappointment he had prepared for the
mutineers, he had run all the way to the cave, and, leaving
squire to guard the captain, had taken Gray and the
maroon, and started, making the diagonal across the
island, to be at hand beside the pine. Soon, however,
he saw that our party had the start of him: and Ben
Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched in front
to do his best alone. Then it had occurred to him to
work upon the superstitions of his former shipmates;
and he was so far successful that Gray and the doctor
had come up and were already ambushed before the
arriva^ of the treasure hunters.

" Ah," said Silver, " it were fortunate for me that
I had Hawkins here. You would have let old John be
cut to bits, aud never given it a thought, doctor."

" Not a thought," replied Doctor Livesey cheerily.

And by this time we had reached tiie gigs. The doctor,
with the pickaxe, demolished one of them, and then
we all got aboard the other and set out to go round by
sea for North Inlet.

This was a run of eight or nine miles. Silver, though
he was almost killed already by fatigue, was set to an
oar, like the rest of us, and we were soon skimming
swiftly over a smooth sea. Soon we passed out of the
straits and doubled the south-east corner of the island,
round which, four days ago, we had tow^H
paniola.

CAPTAIN SILVER 21;

As W passed the two-pointed Rill we could see the
black mouth of Ben Gunn's cave, and a figure standing
by it, leaning on a musket. It was the squire; and we
waved a handkerchief and gave him three cheers, iu
which the voice of Silver joined as heartily as any.

Three miles farther, just inside the mouth of North
Inlet, what should we meet but the Hispaniola, cruisiflg
by herself? The last flood had lifted her; and had there
been much wind, or a strong tide current, as in the southern
anchorage, we should never have found her more, or
found her stranded beyond help. As it was, there was
little amiss, beyond the wreck of the main-sail. Another
anchor was got ready, and dropped in a fathom and a
half of water. We all pulled round again to Rum Cove,
the nearest point for Ben Gunn's treasure-house; and
then Gray, single-handed, returned with the gig to the
Hispaniola, where he was to pass the night on guard.

A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance
of the cave. At the top the squire met us. To me he
was cordial and kind, saying nothing of my espapade,
either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver's polite
salute he somewhat flushed.

" John Silver/' he said, " you're a prodigious villain
and impostor a monstrous impostor, sir. I am told
I am not to prosecute you. Well, then, I will not. But
the dead men, sir, hang about your neck like millstones."

" Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again
saluyng. *

" I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. " It is
a gross dereliction of my duty. Stand back."

And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, (
airy place, with a little spring and a pool of clear water,
overhung with ferns. The floor was sand. Before a big
fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far corner, only duskily
flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps of coin

218 TREASURE ISLAND

and quadrilaterals buKt of bars of gold. That was Flint's
treasure, that we had come so far to seek, and that had
cost already the lives of seventeen men from the His-
paniola. How many it had cost in the amassing, what
blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep,
what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot
of 1 cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no
man alive could tell. Yet there were still three upon
that island Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben Gunn
who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each
had hoped in vain to share in the reward.

" Come in, Jim," said the captain. " You're a good
boy in your line, Jim; but I don't think you and me'll
go to sea again. You're too much of the born favourite
for me. Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here,
man?"

" Come back to my dooty, sir," returned Silver.

" Ah!" said the captain; and that was all he said.

What a supper I had of it that night, with all my
friends/'around me; and what a meal it was, with Ben
Gunn's salted goat, and some delicacies and a bottle of
old wine from the Hispaniola. Never, I am sure, were
people gayer or happier. And there was Silver, sitting
back almost out of the firelight, but eating heartily,
prompt to spring forward when anything was wanted,
even joining quietly in our laughter the same bland,
polite, obsequious seaman of the voyage out.

CAPTAIN SILVER 219

CHAPTER XXXIV

AND LAST

The next morning we fell early to work, for the trans-
portation of this great mass of gold near a mile by lalid
to the beach, and thence three miles by boat to the His-
paniola^ was a considerable task for so small a number
of workmen. The three fellows still abroad upon the
island did not greatly trouble us; a single sentry on the
shoulder of the hill was sufficient to insure us against
any sudden onslaught, and we thought, besides, they
had had more than enough of fighting.

Therefore the work was pushed on briskly. Gray and
Ben Gunn came and went with the boat, while the rest,
during their absences, piled treasure on the beach. Two
of the bars, slung in a rope's-end, made a good load for
a grown man one that he was glad to walk slowly with.
For my part, as I was not much use at carrying; I was
kept busy all day in the cave, packing the minted money
into bread-bags.

It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones's hoard
for the diversity of coinage, but so much larger and so
much more varied tflhat I think I never had more pleasure
than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, Portu-
guese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double
guineas aifd moidores and sequins, the pictures of all
the Kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange
Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of
string or bits of spider's web, round pieces and square,
pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to
wear them round your neck nearly every variety of
money in the world must, I think, have found a place
in % thlt Election; and for number, I am sure they were

220 TREASURE ISLAND

like autumn leaves, so c that my back ached with stooping
and my fingers with sorting them out.

Day after day this work went on; by every evening
a' fortune had been stowed aboard, but there was anothei
fortune waiting for the morrow; and all this time w*
heard nothing of the three surviving mutineers.

At last I think it was on the third night the doctoi
and I were strolling on the shoulder of the hill where il
overlooks the lowlands of the isle, when, from out the
thick darkness below, the wind brought us a noise between
shrieking and singing. It was only a snatch that reached
our ears, followed by the former silence.

" Heaven forgive them/' said the doctor; " 'tis the
mutineers !"

" All drunk, sir," struck in the voice of Silver from
behind us.

Silver, I should say, was allowed his entire liberty,
and, in spite of daily rebuffs, seemed to regard himself
once more as quite a privileged and friendly dependant.
Indeed/it was remarkable how well he bore these slights,
and with what unwearying politeness he kept on trying
to ingratiate himself with all. Yet, I think, none treated
him better than a dog; unless it was Ben Gunn, who
was still terribly afraid of his old quartermaster, or my-
self, who had really something to thanfc him for; although
for that matter, I suppose, I had reason to think even
worse of him than anybody else, for I had seen him
meditating a fresh treachery upon the plateau.' Accord-
ingly, it was pretty gruffly that the doctor answered him.

" Drunk or raving," said he.

" Right you were, sir," replied Silver; " and precious
little odds which, to you and me."

" I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you
a humane man," returned the doctor, with a sneer, " and
so my feelings may surprise you, Master Silver. But if

CAPTAIN SILVER 221

I were sure they were raving as I am morally certain
one, at least, of them is down with fever I should leave
this camp, and, at whatever risk to my own carcass,
take them the assistance of my skill."

" Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong,"
quoth Silver. " You would lose your precious life, and
you jnay lay to that. I'm on your side now, hand arfd
glove; and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened,
let alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you.
But these men down there, they couldn't keep their
word no, not supposing they wished to; and, what's
more, they couldn't believe as you could."

"No," said the doctor. " You're the man to keep your
word, we know that."

Well, that was about the last news we had of the three
pirates. Only once we heard a gunshot a great way off,
and supposed them to be hunting. A council was held,
and it was decided that we must desert them on the
island to the huge glee, I must say, of Ben Gunn,
and with the strong approval of Gray. We left * good
stock of powder and shot, the bulk of the salt goat, a few
medicines, and some other necessaries, tools, clothing,
a spare sail, a fathom or two of rope, and, by the par-
ticular desire of the doctor, a handsome present of
tobacco.

That was about our last doing on the island. Before
that, we had got the treasure stowed, and had shipped
enough wsfter and the remainder of the goat meat,
in case of any distress; and at last, one fine morning,
we weighed anchor, which was about all that we could
manage, and stood out of North Inlet, the same colours
flying that the captain had flown and fought under at
the palisade.

The three fellows must have been watching us closer
we thought for, as we soon had proved. For, coming

222 TREASURE ISLAND

through the narrows, we had to lie very near the southern
point, and there we saw all three of them kneeling to-
gether on a spit of sand, with their arms raised in sup-
plication. It went to all our hearts, I think, to leave them
in that wretched state; but we could not risk another
mutiny; and to take them home for the gibbet would
have been a cruel sort of kindness. The doctor hailed
them, and told them of the stores we had left, and where
they were to find them. But they continued to call us
by name, and appeal to us, for God's sake, to be merciful,
and not leave them to die in such a place.

At last, seeing the ship still bore on her course, and
was now swiftly drawing out of earshot, one of them
I know not which it was leapt to his feet with a hoarse
cry, whipped his musket to his shoulder, and sent a shot
whistling over Silver's head and through the main-sail.

After that, we kept under cover of the bulwarks, and
when next I looked out they had disappeared from the
spit, and the spit itself had almost melted out of sight
in the: growing distance. That was, at least, the end of
that; and before noon, to my inexpressible joy, the highest
rock of Treasure Island had sunk into the blue round
of sea.

We were so short of men that everyone on board had
to bear a hand only the captain lying on a mattress in
the stern and giving his orders; for, though greatly
recovered, he was still in want of quiet. We laid her head
for the nearest port in Spanish America, for \,e could not
risk the voyage home without fresh hands; and as it was,
what with baffling winds and a couple of fresh gales, we
were all worn out before we reached it.

It was just at sundown when we cast anchor in a most
beautiful land-locked gulf, and were immediately sur-
rounded by shore boats full of negroes, and Mexican
Indians, and half-bloods, selling fruits and vegetables,

CAPTAIN SILVER 223

and offering to dive for bits of money. The sight of so
many good-humoured faces (especially the blacks), the
taste of the tropical fruits, and, above all, the lights that
began to shine in the town, made a most charming con*
trast to our dark and bloody sojourn on the island; and
the doctor and the squire, taking me along with them,
went ashore to pass the early part of the night. Here
they met the captain of an English man-of-war, fell in
talk with him, went on board his ship, and, in short, had
so agreeable a time, that day was breaking when we came
alongside the Hispaniola.

Ben Gunn was on deck alone, and, as soon as we came
on board, he began, with wonderful contortions, to make
us a confession. Silver was gone. The maroon had con-
nived at his escape in a shore boat some hours ago, and
he now assured us he had only done so to preserve our
lives, which would certainly have been forfeit if " that
man with the one leg had stayed aboard ". But this was
not all. The sea-cook had not gone empty-handed. He
had cut through a bulkhead unobserved, and had removed
one of the sacks of coin, worth, perhaps, three or four
hundred guineas, to help him on his further wanderings.

I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of
him.

Well, to make a long story short, we got a few hands
on board, made a good cruise home, and the Hispaniola
reached Bristol just as Mr. Blandly was beginning to
thin^ of fitting out her consort. Five men only of those
who had sailed returned with her. " Drink and the devil
had done for the rest ", with a vengeance; although, to
be sure, we were not quite in so bad a case as that otter
ship they sang about:

" With one man of her crew alive,
What put to sea with seventy-five.' 5

224 TREASURE ISLAND

All of us had an ample share of the treasure, ajld used
it wisely or foolishly, according to our natures. Captain
Smollett is now retired from the sea. Gray not only
aved his money, but, being suddenly smit with the
desire to rise, also studied his profession; and he is now
n\ate and part owner of a fine full-rigged ship; married
besides, and the father of a family. As for Ben Gunn,
he got a thousand pounds, which he spent or lost in three
weeks, or, to be more exact, in nineteen days, for he was
back begging on the twentieth. Then he was given a lodge
to keep, exactly as he had feared upon the island; and
he still lives, a great favourite, though something of
a butt, with the country boys, and a notable singer in
church on Sundays and saints' days.

Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable
seafaring man with one leg has at last gone clean out of
my life; but I daresay he met his old negress, and perhaps
still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. It is to
be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in
another world are very small.

The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I
know, where Flint buried them; and certainly they shall
lie there for me. Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring
me back again to that accursed island; and the worst
dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf boom-
ing about its coasts, or start upright in bed, with the
sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my ears:
" Pieces of eight! pieces of eight!"

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